Notebook: Jameson Williams' Confidence Continuing to Climb

A collection of Detroit Lions news after coordinators met with the media.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (9) / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions are banking on wideout Jameson Williams playing at a high level this season.

With Josh Reynolds now playing in Denver, the speedy wideout is expected to emerge as the No. 2 receiver on the roster.

"Iron sharpens iron in this business. So the guys that we have that are corners going against Jamo, I think it made both guys better," said defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. "I expect Jamo to do what Jamo does, and that's run past people and make plays in the deep part of the field. Listen, I'm a huge fan of that player. Me and him have a great relationship and I try to push him just as much as I push anybody else because he has the talent to be able to do it. So I look forward to watching him operate this whole season."

After a successful training camp, the former first-round pick is as confident as he has ever been, heading into a critical season personally and for the team.

"As high as it's ever been, and continuing to climb. The more reps, the more time we get together on the field, the better I feel about him. He's grown in so many ways on and off the field as a player, as a route runner, as a receiver. And then off the field, just his preparation, how he's taking care of his body, his demeanor with his teammates and interactions with them. He's come a very long way. So he's just gonna continue to grow," said offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. "The more reps he gets, he's gonna make mistakes and he's gonna learn from them. That's the most encouraging thing we've seen is since he's been out on the field, he's rarely made the same mistake twice."

Quarterback Jared Goff has indicated his comfort level with Williams has only grown since the start of training camp.

"We'll see. Hopefully teams are sleeping on him a little bit here early in the season. He's got that rare ability in this league to take the top off the coverage," Johnson said. "If we can get him over the top, if it presents itself, those opportunities, I think Jared is gonna be a lot more comfortable in knowing where he's gonna be and how he needs to throw those balls down the field to take advantage of that. We'll see what the coverage dictates."

Aaron Glenn on Josh Paschal

Detroit's talented defensive lineman is entering his third season and is learning to execute consistently what the coaching staff has made points of emphasis.

“When you watch him in the preseason, I think the one thing that stands out about him is he’s starting to understand exactly who he is and how he has to play to be successful. And (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams) T has done a really good job of helping him understand that," Glenn said. "You see the power, he’s a big man that can play on the edge. You see the power in that aspect of him being able to collapse the pocket. You see the quickness when he’s playing inside, to be able to win those one-on-one situations."

Will the Lions just kickoff into the end zone repeatedly?

The growing speculation around the league has been that teams will simply just decide to kickoff into the end zone, opting not to risk skill players securing big returns.

With the new kickoff rules, a kickoff that lands in the end zone will give the offense the ball at the 30-yard line. However, some teams could see benefit in doing this rather than taking the chance of giving up a big play.

"It's risk-reward. And the biggest challenge with the play, if you're asking me would I love to play every one of them out? I'd love to play every single one of them out," said special teams coordinator Dave Fipp. "But at the end of the day, our job really is to try to win a football game, so when you have the team approach in mind, I think it changes your decision making a little bit. We'll see, I think there's still a lot out there on the whole play in general."

Evolving the Lions' offense

Detroit's talented offensive coordinator explained to reporters the process of keeping the offense evolving and not becoming too predictable.

"It really starts when we are watching ourselves. We talk about, as a staff, maybe a play off a play and how we can attack a certain look that we're seeing. It goes another step further once we start evaluating the pro guys around the league, free agents, and then certainly the college tape that pops up come Draft time, that's when the wheels really start turning," said Johnson. "I think I mentioned it last year, I've got this stack from Chris Spielman, index cards still sitting on my desk, and he's starting to feed me some from this year now that the college game's starting. We are always looking, everywhere that we can find a little edge, something different. That's the benefit of having such veteran guys and smart guys. We can take little things and incorporate them and not miss a beat."

Johnson has added comfort running the offense, as the number of skill players has steadily grown over the past several seasons.

"Yeah, my comfort level is high because of the guys around me," Johnson said. "The coaching staff gives me a ton of comfort. Second year that this whole group has been together, which is really special, I think. We can read each other's minds now. We're a lot more efficient. I wouldn't confuse that with getting more sleep, but we are definitely more on the same page and we're able to get to point B a lot quicker than what we've done as a coaching staff."

Jared Goff's first impressions of Dan Campbell

Speaking during his weekly radio interview on 97.1 The Ticket, Detroit's veteran signal-caller shared what his first impression was of Dan Campbell.

"First impression is just how passionate he is and how much he cared. You could tell how important this whole thing was to him. I think now, we've grown so much together and I've seen him grow tremendously as a head coach and his ability to know when to push and when to pull is as good as I've ever seen or heard of," said Goff. "He's been tremendous with me in that way as well, knowing when to push me a little bit and knowing when to love me up and everything in between.

"You look in hindsight now at the decisions he's made and the people's he's stuck by and the people he's put in certain positions and it was all for a reason," Goff commneted further. "It was all intentional. I think that's the one thing about him, he is intentional. He'll always have our backs, I know that, and a guy that I love playing for and hope to play for for a long time."