Notes: Calvin Johnson offers advice to Jameson Williams on handling adversity

Calvin Johnson is no stranger to adversity.

I mean, that’s probably putting it mildly if you played for a team that went 0-16. So he’s probably the right guy to talk to when it comes to asking how a player deals with difficulties like these.

Sitting down with FOX 2’s Ryan Ermanni on The Nine, Johnson said it’s unfortunate that Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was suspended for violating the NFL’s gambling policy but adversity is a part of life.

“There’s always going to be adversity in anything that you do, even if things are seemingly right, there’s always going to be some level of adversity. But it’s really how you interact with that adversity, how do you come back from that adversity? Do you allow that adversity to hold you down or do you push up, do you thrive, do you stand back up. It’s all about getting back up, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you just gotta keep getting back up and you’ll find success,” he said.

Williams spoke publicly about the incident on Thursday and nearly echoed Johnson’s advice.

“Adversity comes, and it’s just how you handle it,” Williams said. “It’s always about how you handle it, and how you come out, and things like that. I’m a person that’s going to come out on top regardless, that’s just how I think. Just a little bump in the road, hopefully I’ll be back real soon.”

Also in the interview on FOX 2, Johnson mentioned his relationship with the Lions is growing more positive by the day, saying they have had “more and more frequent discussions.”

It’s been seven years since Johnson suddenly retired and the Lions asked for a significant portion of his signing bonus back. The Hall of Famer became estranged with the organization until recently. He credits team chief operating officer Mike Disner with reaching out to find a solution, which Johnson says hasn’t happened in the past.

It was a good sign then that those talks are heading in the right direction that Johnson stopped by OTAs and was spotted embracing Dan Campbell. Jeremy has more on that here.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• Get to know senior defensive assistant John Fox a little better.

• Pics on pics on pics on pics.

• Including this since he was a Lion at one point, running back Adrian Peterson still isn’t ready to hang up the cleats as he enters this season at 38 years old.

• Speaking of former Lions, you’ll see one on this list of 10 players under the most pressure to succeed in 2023. Hint: he was on similar lists last season while he was Lion.