Dan Campbell says Lions will find different ways to get 2022 first-rounder Jameson Williams more involved

Williams has had a relatively small role since recovering from a pre-draft ACL injury

The Detroit Lions are in a bit of a slump, having lost two of their last three games and scoring 22 or fewer points in both of those defeats. Detroit started the season hot, with an explosive offense and a defense that played far better than expectations early on. But the defense hasn't yielded fewer than 26 points since returning from a Week 9 bye, and suddenly the offense doesn't look quite as explosive -- or consistent -- as it did early on.

One potential solution is to get 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams more involved in the offense. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the team is working to get him (and other receivers) going.

"Yeah, we'll keep working with him," Campbell said of Williams, per MLive.com. "He's improving. We'll keep working to find some different ways to get him more involved. Because he is, he's putting the work in and he's improving. He's really no different than (Amon-Ra St. Brown). We keep finding ways to get Saint more involved. (Josh) Reynolds did some good things, (we're) finding ways to get him involved. Look, we're going to do what's best for us, and ask our guys to do things they do well. So yeah, absolutely, he's earned that. We're going to keep working on it."

Williams missed the majority of his rookie season while recovering from an ACL tear, then sat out the first four games of this year after being suspended for violating the league's gambling policy. He had just one catch (for 41 yards and a touchdown) on nine targets during the final six games of his rookie campaign, and he has only 13 grabs for 195 yards and two scores, as well as two carries for 23 yards and a touchdown, in nine games this year. 

He has finally seen his playing time creep up in recent weeks, topping 50% of the snaps in each of Detroit's last five games, but has yet to exceed a 65% snap share. He's also only had more than three targets in one game, and it was when he went catchless on six throws during a 38-6 beatdown at the hands of the Ravens.

Williams' explosiveness was his calling card at Alabama, where he turned in a 79-catch, 1,572-yard, 15-touchdown season before sustaining the ACL tear in the national title game. He's nearly two years removed from that injury now, though, and the Lions should probably turn him loose with a larger role in the offense, even if only to open things up for St. Brown and rookies Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs underneath.