Allen Park — With one game left on the schedule, Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams is one touchdown shy of tying Barry Sanders’ single-season franchise record (16).
When asked Thursday what joining this company would mean to him, Williams said has a ton of respect for Sanders. But in typical Williams fashion, his respect extends beyond what Sanders used to do on the football field — he also loves Barry Sanders, the video game character.
“I’ve been back (playing) NFL Street 2 again, and NFL Street, and he in there is a legend,” Williams said. “So I’m just grateful for that opportunity, to be in there with somebody like that.”
Williams never has been one to reach for the spotlight, although it has found him quite easily since he joined the Lions on a two-year deal ahead of last season. He was never supposed to be the 1,000-yard rusher from this running back room, although he sits six yards away from reaching that milestone entering Sunday. And he certainly was never supposed to lead these Lions into Lambeau Field, where Williams spent the first four years of his career, with a potential playoff spot on the line in Week 18, although he is poised to do just that.
How fitting it would be, then, if the Lions flipped the script on Sunday Night Football behind a record-tying or record-breaking performance from the former Packer. Right now, he said he’s not thinking about any of that.
“It’s nothing different, honestly. Not for me. Just ’cause I’ve been in these types of games before, and for me, I just — in my mind — I just keep everything simple,” Williams said. “I keep it from getting bigger than what it is.”
“To me, it’s just another night game on Sunday. I get to go play against my old team, the Packers. So I just try to keep it as simple as possible,” Williams said.
Last Sunday, Williams rushed for a career-high 144 yards (bringing his total on the season to 994) and a touchdown — No. 15 — on 22 carries. His previous single-season career-high in yards came a season ago (601), a mark which he has now shattered. Once perceived as the thunder to D’Andre Swift’s lightning, Williams has become a storm all by himself.
“He’s been a bell cow for us all year long,” Johnson said. “It’s been the steady three-, four-, five-yard gains for the most part, and then, he does have the ability to break some tackles as well, and I think he’s had a couple 50-yarders as well this year.
“So, we think extremely highly of him, he’s been consistent for us as a runner and just really happy to that run game pick up again last week. It was a lot easier as a playcaller to call that game.”
Williams is playing coy about the potential to break Sanders’ record, but his teammates are not. They want to see him do it. In fact, if you saw Lions quarterback Jared Goff sprinting down the sideline during Williams’ 58-yard run on Sunday, it was because he thought Williams was about the tie Sanders’ record.
“I wanted him to score because it was the Barry Sanders record and I thought he was going to score, and I was going to enjoy it, a celebration in the end zone with him,” Goff said. “But yeah, I was just excited for him, man.
“He’s been working hard and we all root for each other, and he’s a guy it’s impossible not to root for, and a great teammate.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi