Jared Goff praises Jameson Williams for growth he's showing this offseason

Before an OTA practice a couple weeks ago, Lions head coach Dan Campbell called Jameson Williams the most improved player on the team during offseason work and said the the third-year wide receiver has improved "everywhere."

For his part, Williams sounds like a mature player and a more mature man this offseason as he embraces the expectations for a breakout season. He is arguably the most-watched player when reporters have been on-site at Lions' practice, and if he's not then he's high on the associated list.

It's one thing for a coach to praise a player during OTAs, even one who will be as candid as Campbell will be. It's another thing for a player himself to say he has changed things, in his approach, his offseason routine, etc.

But if a teammate says good things, even if a skeptic would suggest no player will be publicly critical of a teammate, that feels like it means a little more.

Jared Goff praises work Jameson Williams is putting in

As is well-known, this is Williams' first offseason that's not been impeded by injury rehab or the cloud of a gambling suspension. Just getting reps is truly more important than anything else, even in un-padded OTA practices.

After Wednesday's minicamp practice, via Brad Galli of WXYZ in Detroit, Jared Goff had a lot of good things to say when he was asked about Williams.

"Yeah, it's been fun, man, it's been really good to see him do his thing. I think this offseason's been un-impeded for him, and it's the first one he's had. Having him out there with the '1s', getting him used to all this stuff. Him and I getting on the same page more and more, every single day...starting to see that show up pretty consistently, saw it a few times today.... "He’s a guy that has become very hard on himself too and is holding himself to a really high standard," Goff said. "That makes things easy to fall in line.” 

Speaking of Wednesday's practice, the Lions posted a clip of a deep ball connection between Goff and Williams. It was equal parts pinpoint ball placement by Goff and a fantastic play by Williams.

If only to keep his offseason momentum going without any hiccups, this week's minicamp was lined up to be a notable step for Williams. It sounds like he has kept that momentum rolling, and an important front-row observer (his quarterback) has noticed the progress he's making.