Lions 'Dying' for Any Wideout to Step Up

Dan Campbell provides updates on injuries, wide receiver competition.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. / Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK

Nearly two full weeks through training camp, it’s become widely apparent that the Lions have a wide-open competition for their No. 3 wide receiver job. 

While Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams are firmly entrenched as the team’s top two receivers, Dan Campbell & Co. are still awaiting for someone to emerge as the third wideout in town. 

That competition has become even more up for grabs with the organization deciding to place second-year receiver Antoine Green on waivers. Green, a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, never truly made his mark with the Lions. He played in nine games a season ago, and secured one catch on just two targets. 

The North Carolina product suffered a concussion/neck injury in Detroit’s preseason opener Thursday against the N.Y. Giants and did not return. 

If Green goes unclaimed, he'll end up on the Lions’ injured reserve list and his season will be over (the only exception being if the Lions cut him with an injury settlement).

"That's something that, we certainly had a number of doctors look at his scans, and we felt like this was the best thing on our end for him and needed to do this,” Campbell said about the team waiving Green. “That's where it's at. We didn't want to do this, we love the kid, he's grinding, he's working. But, it's a tough injury, it is."

With Green out of the equation, the battle for the No. 3 receiver position is down to a group of pass-catchers which includes Donovan Peoples-Jones and training camp standouts Daurice Fountain and Kaden Davis. 

While Campbell has liked what he's seen from the aforementioned trio of receivers, he’s still waiting for one of them to separate from the rest of the pack.   

“It’s still the same as where it’s at. We’re waiting for any one of those guys to step forward,” Campbell expressed. “DPJ (Peoples-Jones), I felt like, has been, since the game, much better. He’s playing faster and I notice it, we all notice it, so that’s encouraging. But, Fountain and Tre’Quan (Smith) and Kaden Davis, somebody, we’re dying for somebody to step up and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m the guy. I’m the guy you can depend on. I’ll be the same, consistent player every day, find a way to make the plays that come my way.’”

Notes

1.) International Player Pathway Program participant David Bada was declared out for the year with an Achilles’ injury. 

2.) The Lions signed linebackers Abraham Beauplan and Ty Summers due to injuries at the position. Notably, Malcolm Rodriguez and DaRon Gilbert have suffered ailments in recent practices.