After an offseason full of hype, Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams had a lot of eyes on him in the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. As it turned out the Rams' defense focused on containing Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta (seven catches for 58 yards combined), while letting others beat them-if they could.
And beat them Williams did. A 52-yard touchdown from Jared Goff was the highlight of his night, but he had 121 yards on five total catches (nine targets) along with a 13-yard run. It was the first of his career in a lot of categories, including an 85 percent snap share. His route tree also evolved notably, as it did late last season.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged Williams' performance while also saying he "didn't even play his best ball" against the Rams. In his own postgame podium session, Williams seemed to agree with his coach's assessment.
Jameson Williams knows breakout game vs. Rams is only the beginning
Williams clutched to the "Sunday Night Football" game ball he got on the field after the game at the podium, and he talked about his performance as a launch point.
"This is just Game 1,” Williams said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Like I said, I put in a lot of work. I expected to have a big game. Me personally, I expect to have a big game, I guess, it’s just big to the world just cause it’s my first one. But I plan to have a lot more. I don’t plan on this being my best game of my career. I plan on this just being a start of me being me.”
Williams stepped up and was a difference maker as the rest of the Lions' offense struggled to get consistent traction against the Rams. That's the kind of difference he can make for one of the league's best offenses when opportunities come.
While 100-yard games won't be a weekly occurrence, the Lions got what they hoped for from Williams in the first game of the season with the Rams' defensive focus where it was. But he knows it's only one game, even if it's a nice foundation to build from.