ALLEN PARK — Jared Goff and Jameson Williams had an off day against the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday.
Williams caught a 13-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. But the duo failed to connect on their next six targets. There was bad timing, a couple drops and missed chances stalling their day. Williams caught his first and last targets, finishing with 40 yards against the Browns.
The Detroit Lions won 34-10. And nobody, from Goff, Williams or coach Dan Campbell, is sweating the connection between the receiver and quarterback despite the showing.
Shortly after the win, Goff made it clear that he’d like to throw to Williams as much as possible. The Lions quarterback also took some of the blame, calling Williams “as good of a player as there is in this league.
“He was open on some of them. He was covered on some of them,” Goff said. “I made a really poor decision on the interception that had nothing to do with getting him the ball. I saw it poorly and got pretty reckless there — one I’d like back.
“I thought Jamo did fine. He had a couple drops there. He’s so steady-eddy throughout the week now. I’ve got no reservations with him at all. He’s as good as they get in our league. He can score from anywhere and going to keep believing in him no matter what … I know he really had the one drop, but I did miss him on quite a few.”
The 24-year-old receiver has caught 10 passes on 20 targets for 214 yards and one touchdown through four games. Williams was credited with two drops, his first two of the season, against Cleveland.
One of those drops was an ugly one and just outside the red zone in the fourth quarter. The other came on a dime of a deep shot from Goff, with Williams recovering to track the ball well, but unable to secure the ball.
The speedy receiver caught his first target of the game for 13 yards. Williams flashed some of the body control the Lions have been talking about. He sold the downfield route, then hit the brakes for the hitch to beat Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II.
On his second, Goff was under pressure and took a hit in the pocket with Williams splitting the safeties. The third target was the deep shot that bounced off the receiver’s hands in the second quarter.
Goff again went deep for Williams on the fourth target before halftime. But Williams was tightly covered down the seam, and it wasn’t close.
The quarterback owned the interception, which came on Williams’ fifth look. Goff hurried with the pressure coming, and took a risk that bit him.
With the Lions up 20-10 on third-and-4 in the third quarter, Goff went back to Williams. But he needed a little more time in the pocket to hit the receiver in stride.
The one target that won’t show up in the box score came on a free play. Goff felt Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett coming when he jumped offside. He quickly let one rip for Williams down the seam. But the timing of the throw and Williams’ eyes were off on the potential big free play.
The ugliest play by the wideout came on the first play of the fourth quarter. Goff dropped another dime over the defense on third-and-2, and Williams had enough of a window via the upfield crosser. However, he dropped the ball, and the Lions turned it over on downs on the next snap.
Williams secured a 27-yard catch over the middle on the next series to end on the day on a better note.
It was just one of those days. Williams can be a boom-or-bust receiver. Still, the Lions are happy to ride the wave, because they know better days are coming. They recently signed him to a three-year, $83 million extension for a reason.
Lions coach Dan Campbell agreed that some of the missed chances were on both. He said Williams’ eyes could have been there sooner, and Goff missed on one, and “we were just a little bit off.”
“… We go back to the drawing board. And I hate to make excuses, but some of these we really wanted to push the ball down the field,” Campbell said on Monday. “And we weren’t able to practice on Wednesday, it was more walkthrough, so then you’re trying to grab some reps on Thursday … Sometimes it’s a reminder for me, it’s like, man, we may need to just — let’s make sure that either we try to find a way to get some reps to where we get a good flow on Wednesday, or maybe we don’t put some things in, and that’s fine.
“But there’s been enough work and there’s going to be more work, and those guys are going to be fine. Jamo’s going to be fine, Goff is a stud, so we’ll be good.”
