It’s fairly obvious what progress will look like for Jameson Williams coming off a torn ACL, but Lions head coach Dan Campbell offered an outline anyway.
The start of Detroit Lions training camp next month will be roughly six-and-a-half months since Jameson Williams suffered a torn ACL playing in the national title game for Alabama. So it’s no surprise the 12th overall pick in April’s draft isn’t expected to be ready to go on the first day of camp. His ability to be a full-go for training camp at all has to be considered up in the air.
The Lions have no reason to rush Williams. He got some mental reps during OTAs, which will be important as he moves to the pros. The numbers he ultimately puts up as a rookie, in however many games he plays, won’t be as important as getting him fully healthy without setbacks in the coming weeks and months.
Dan Campbell offer obvious outline for what progress will look like for Jameson Williams
Via SI.com, Campbell offered an outline for what Williams has to show in his recovery progress when speaking at OTAs.
"Look, we want to get him out there as fast as possible, and is it crucial? It is crucial, but not until he gets his strength up,” “He needs a lot of strength development in that body, his lower extremities, his legs, his knees, his everything. So, until he’s able to stabilize himself, and really get some strength that we feel good about to where he can protect himself, he can protect that knee, and he can compete, and compete at a high level, we’re not going to put him out there.”"
All of Campbell’s words stand for when Williams will be allowed to participate without restriction on the practice field, and ultimately of course play in a game. All of the words are obvious, too obvious really, and Williams won’t be able to easily hide it if he’s asked to try to do something he can’t physically do just yet.
Patience and caution are the key words with Williams right now. He will not be rushed back to try to get a game or two more in on the front end of his career, when the Lions have plans for him to be a big part of the core of the team for a long time.