Jameson Williams: Lions Building 'Unstoppable' Mindset

Jameson Williams is ready to help Lions keep winning in second half.

The Detroit Lions closed out the first half of their 2023 season on a positive note. They handily defeated the Las Vegas Raiders, notching their sixth win in eight games.

As the Lions have racked up the wins this season, they’ve built up an indestructible level of confidence inside their locker room. With the help of their head coach Dan Campbell, they’ve developed a mindset that they can hang with and knock off anybody, including the NFL’s elite.

On Thursday, second-year wideout Jameson Williams echoed the sentiment that the confidence instilled by Campbell and his coaching staff has permeated throughout Detroit’s roster – and in a significant fashion.

“The swag is just more of a confidence thing. The more wins we get, the more confidence we get. It’s like we’re building a mindset that’s unstoppable,” Williams expressed to reporters. “The wins just help us on a next level to just keep going up a notch, and notch, and notch. And, that’s just building swag, and we play with each other. Offense goes out there and scores, defense gets a stop and offense will go score. We all play off each other, so it’s just a great team. And, the swag and the confidence is all there.”

Ten games into Williams’ NFL career, the Lions are still seeking consistent production out of the Alabama product.

Williams has spent the majority of his young career either not playing (due to injury or off-the-field issues) or struggling with catching the football on a regular basis. In fact, he’s hauled in just 29.2 percent of the balls thrown his way since entering the professional ranks. He’s exceeded that career catch percentage so far this season, but has still caught only six of the 15 passes Lions quarterback Jared Goff has thrown his way (40.0 percent)

Despite these struggles, the organization and its fans are still holding out hope that Williams will start living up to the bill of a first-round draft pick in the second half of the season.

St. Brown: Playing Through Blisters 'Like Running on Needles'

Williams, meanwhile, expressed Thursday that coming out of the bye, he’s focused on the Lions continuing to accomplish their team-wide goals.

“I don’t really have any personal goals,” Williams said. “I just wanna keep winning. We have a real good team, good season going right now. I’m just focused on winning. Maybe we can get far in the playoffs and go do something big.”

Next up for the NFC North-leading Lions is a battle with the 4-4 Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

All season long, the Chargers have struggled with limiting the production of opposing teams’ passing games. Los Angeles, in fact, has allowed the most passing yards in the league through eight games (2,288). Additionally, the Brandon Staley-led squad has permitted the sixth-most yards per pass attempt (6.6).

Yet, the Chargers do possess some more-than-capable defenders in their secondary, most notably safety Derwin James and cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.

Williams is well aware of the challenge going up against Samuel and James.

“They’ve got real good guys. They’ve got Derwin (James), (Asante) Samuel, just guys that make plays. (It’s) something we’ve got to work around,” Williams expressed. “We see how they play on the film, we see what we can do, what things we can get around and ways that we can attack those guys. So, it’s a great defense, but I feel like we can get those guys in some ways. We have a great offensive coordinator (Ben Johnson), and he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

James, for one, is a hard-hitting safety that isn’t afraid to impose his will against receivers, like Williams. In seven games this year, James, a three-time Pro Bowler, has amassed 47 total tackles, as well as two fumble recoveries and an interception.

“He’s coming down, and he’s hitting,” Williams said about facing James. “So, you’ve gotta be ready for that, for sure. That’s probably one of the main things I would say. He’s a great ballplayer, though, all around.”