Lions rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams getting tantalizingly close to debut

As the Detroit Lions search for good injury news wherever they can find it, rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams is getting close to making his NFL debut.

As their injury list grows every week thus far, the Detroit Lions could use some good health news wherever they can find it. On that front, rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams seems to be getting close to making his NFL debut.

Despite an ACL tear in January’s national title game, the Lions made a big move up in the first round of April’s draft to get Williams. He, expectedly, landed on the NFI (non-football injury) list for training camp and into the season. But there has been plenty of opportunity for him to get mental reps, so once his knee is healthy he can step right into a prominent role.

A recent Instagram video Williams posted showing himself running routes seems to show his knee is in pretty good shape.

On Wednesday, wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El talked about Williams.

Lions expect Jameson Williams’ learning curve to be short

Here’s Randle El talking about Williams, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.

"It’s his mental aspect of it,”  “He’s picking it up. We go over it every day. In between sessions we go over the plays with him, he can spit it right back out to me. The tough part is, right now, we can’t get him out in the field and get him lined up and all that type stuff because of rules or whatever. But to be able to do that, get on the board and write it up — you just work every week, you know, what’s in the game plan? ‘He can talk to you about coverages, stuff like that, so he gets it. The physical part, I’m not worried about. It’s always the mental you want to make sure a guy has. He has it. He’s getting it down.”"

It’s unclear when Williams will take the practice field, but Sunday’s game against the Seahawks is the minimum fourth game he has to miss on the NFI list. So he could theoretically practice next week, and play Week 5 against the New England Patriots. More likely though, the Lions take their Week 6 bye to get him all the way up to speed and the soonest he makes his debut is Week 7 (Oct. 23) against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions’ offense is second in points and third in total yards through three weeks, so they’ve been fine without Williams. But his speed will be a welcome addition to the arsenal, and the time for him to make his debut is getting close.