The Detroit Lions have started the practice window for rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams today.
The No. 12 overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, Williams has been on the non-football injury list all year while rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in last year's National Championship Game while playing at Alabama.
"I would say probably after Thanksgiving sometime ... I think that's tentatively what we're looking at," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said last week when asked about a potential Williams return to action. "I don't know if that would be the Jacksonville week or the week after. It could be (Thanksgiving) week, it's just we're not doing a ton, but he's close. We'll see where it goes. He's progressing, there's no setbacks."
The Lions moved up 20 spots in the draft to get Williams, who was one of the most dynamic deep threats in college football a year ago.
Williams hauled in an Alabama single-season record four touchdowns of 70-plus yards last year, a number that led all Division 1 receivers. He totaled 11 touchdowns of 30-plus yards or more to also lead the nation.
He's exactly the kind of threat Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wanted to add this offseason, and when he's ready to return to game action, the Lions could have a scary deep threat duo on the outside with Williams and veteran DJ Chark.
The Lions are currently 9th in the NFL in passing and have the third most 20-plus yard passes in the NFL behind only Kansas City (47) and Miami (39). Williams' return is expected to boost those numbers even more.
The team now has 21 days to activate Williams from NFI to the active roster.
