Jameson Williams could ‘accelerate’ his return to action for the Lions

Jameson Williams will not be rushed by the Lions, but the door is open for him to up his return timeline.

It’s been clear from the start the Detroit Lions view rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams as a long-term investment. He’s coming off a torn ACL in last January’s national title game, so moving up to take him with the 12th pick in April’s draft was a multi-year play.

The official move to keep Williams in the NFI (non-football injury) list into the season was not a surprise. It also means he will miss at least the first four games of the season, which was always the most likely outcome.

With one game then before a Week 6 bye, it’s easy to think Willams will not make his NFL debut until Week 7.

On Thursday, via Ben Raven of MLive, Lions general manager Brad Holmes once again asserted the long-range plan with Williams.

"You got to be a little bit conservative and on the safer side when it comes to forecasts and those returns to play. But hopefully, he stays on track, and hopefully it’s sooner than later, but we’re going to continue to be smart with him. We’ve always said that from Day 1….He would jog a slant route if he could, but he — I mean — but we’ve got to be smart because we didn’t make that move for him just for Year 1. This is a long-term investment.”"

Could Jameson Willliams return faster than expected?

Holmes wasn’t (and isn’t) going to say if there’s a date the team has in mind for when Williams will be able to play, even if it’s easy to speculate from the outside. But he did say the timeline could change, for the good.

"He is on track, again, I’m not going to put out a hard date, but I will say, the weeks and weeks he’s strung together with his rehab, and he’s so gifted from a genetic standpoint,” “Once he keeps that consistency going, it actually could accelerate that return that we’re thinking."

In terms of ‘accelerating’ his return, remember the earliest Williams can play is Week 5 against the New England Patriots. Then the Lions have their bye.

If it’s not that Week 5 game, then look to the aforementioned Week 7 against the Dallas Cowboys or Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins for when Williams will make his debut.