Notes: Brad Holmes defends Jameson Williams, says mistakes are ‘magnified’

Plenty of players make mistakes as they find their footing in training camp, but when you’re Jameson Williams, those slip ups are under a microscope.

That’s basically the point Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes tried to get across when speaking to the hosts on 97.1 The Ticket on Thursday. Williams has been making headlines for being inconsistent in training camp—not all too surprising considering he spent the majority of last season recovering from a torn ACL.

“I think sometimes it’s a little more magnified when a wide receiver with that kind of talent, if he drops a ball, everybody sees it,” Holmes said on 97.1 The Ticket. “But there’s other players that have some similar struggles, some mistakes here and there that aren’t as magnified.”

He said that’s part of what happens when you’re a receiver—your mistakes are more visible—and also what happens when you’re drafted so high. Holmes found enough reason to trade up in last year’s draft to snag Williams at 12th overall.

“He’s got game-changing talent, but he’s just a young player and these guys go through ups (and downs). ... We still got a lot of hope for him,” he said.

His partner-in-crime Dan Campbell doesn’t seem to be overreacting either.

“It’s not an excuse but he hasn’t practiced. I mean, he didn’t practice last year. He came in during the year and we kind of had a couple of plays for him here and there ... and he was hurt last week, so man the longer we can keep him on the field and just keep working through these things, he’ll get better,” he said.

One of the main ways to get better, Campbell says, is working on his hand mechanics — both before and after practice.

“He’s just got to grind on it, and even then it’s not — it’ll never be probably be like one of these elite pass-catchers that you’ve seen, but it’ll be just fine with his speed and what he’s able to do,” he said.

Speed? Well Williams has plenty of that.

You can read the whole article from 97.1 The Ticket here.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• Dan Campbell shares his excitement about the new running back duo.

• POD has plenty of training camp observations, but Tim Twentyman & Mike O’Hara over at detroitlions.com have some notes if you want even more.

• GET BARRY A CHAIN ASAP.

• Also - get this man in pads ASAP.

• NFL.com’s Eric Edholm made a list of first-stringers who could lose their starting jobs and it includes Malcolm Rodriguez. “With Alex Anzalone’s starting job feeling secure and the Lions likely to deploy a lot of two-LB groupings, it’s hard to see Rodriguez starting the majority of games now barring an injury or two.”

• What’s the biggest question for the Lions? CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr takes a stab at it, along with every other team in the NFC.