Allen Park — The Detroit Lions are expecting Jameson Williams’ recent transgression, a violation of the league’s gambling policy that netted the second-year receiver a six-game suspension, to be a blip on the radar in his development as both a player and person.
“Jameson, look, he made a mistake,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said Saturday, after the Lions wrapped up the selection of their 2023 draft class. “He takes accountability with it, he knows it. Yes, he is young, (but) he understands the mistake that he made and we’ve had transparent, open conversations about it. We have confidence he’s going to take the right approach, he’s going to have the right response, in terms of what he needs to do.”
Holmes said the immediate focus with Williams will be taking advantage of the remainder of the offseason program, through training camp and the preseason, where he will be allowed continued participation. In the meantime, the team will work on a plan for the player once he is required to be excluded from team functions until he’s able to return to the facility halfway through his suspension. At that stage, Williams can work out and attend team meetings, but he will continue to be prohibited from practicing until the completion of his suspension.
Holmes was also asked if there was any concern about Williams’ overall maturity, beyond the gambling violation. His propensity for publicly liking social media posts about his usage, or lack thereof, and the team potentially acquiring other players was mentioned as an example.
“You just have talks with him,” Holmes said. “I always say everything Jamo is as a person, we are extremely thorough in our research about the human being before we acquire these players. We know who Jamo is and we have a good system for him, and for all of our players. Player development is No. 1 for all of our players. We said that in Year 1 that was our goal and focus.
“I think each player is different. Jamo is young and he’s going to continue to mature, and he’s going to continue to grow. Yeah, some mistakes will be made, but we communicate with Jamo and we treat him like our other players. We hold him to the (standard) and we’re always clear and transparent with him, like all of our players. We just go forward from there. But no real concerns going forward. He made a mistake, he takes accountability for it and I know that he’ll learn from it.”
The Lions traded up 20 spots in the first round of last year’s draft to secure Williams. The speedy Alabama standout was coming off an impressive season where he had caught 79 passes for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide, prior to suffering a torn ACL in the College Football Playoff championship game.
Williams spent a significant chunk of his rookie season working his way back from that knee injury, debuting for the Lions in early December. Seeing just 78 offensive snaps across the final six games, he caught a single pass on nine targets, but was still able to showcase his explosive, playmaking ability, hauling in the 41-yard touchdown grab and gaining another 40 yards on a reverse with his only other touch.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers