He won’t solve all their problems at wide receiver, but Quintez Cephus should be in prime position to help the Detroit Lions‘ passing game Sunday for the second straight week.
Cephus, coming off a career-best four-catch performance in Monday night’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, is in line to play significant snaps at the X receiver position again this week with Tyrell Williams still sidelined by a brain injury.
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Lions coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday that Williams, who has not played since taking a helmet-to-helmet hit in the third quarter of the Lions’ season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, remains in concussion protocol.
“There’s really no change in him,” Campbell said. “So I don’t expect him to play this week.”
That leaves Cephus, a fifth-round pick out of Wisconsin last spring, as the Lions’ top outside receiver.
Cephus played 51 of a possible 57 snaps against the Packers. He caught a career-high four passes for 63 yards, scored the Lions’ first touchdown, and was Jared Goff’s intended receiver on a key fourth-and-1 play the Lions failed to convert in the second half.
“He’s a young guy and he made some plays early and then there are some plays that you want him to win on that didn’t happen late,” Campbell said. “But that’s part of his growth. And so what’s encouraging is that he did make plays early and the potential is there.”
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Specifically, Campbell said Cephus was “a lot better” with his route discipline against the Packers than he was the 49ers.
“That shows that there is improvement,” he said. “He’s got to just keep coming. You just got to keep getting better and the more he does that, the more Goff will trust him and give him opportunities.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.