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The Lions finally trust Jameson Williams and it shows
David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

It's been a long hard road for Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams. He's had the ACL injury, the gambling suspension, the drops, the hamstring and all the things that fans and media have had to say about him. Through it all the kid just kept smiling and working and doing everything he could to gain the Lions trust.

If you like watching the box score and nothing else, you'll probably come away with the idea that Williams still hasn't done much. But if you dig deeper, you'll see that the kid is on his way to being the player the Lions thought he could be. 

A month ago Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said that "some guys take longer than others to develop a rapport with. We frankly aren’t there yet" when asked about the way the Lions were using Williams. He accompanied that statement by saying that time on task would help. 

A month later and Jameson Williams has played more than ever in the last two games. Against the Chargers, Williams played 34 snaps. That was a career high until this past Sunday when he played 40 snaps against the Bears. 

What Williams has done with this recent time on task is good. He's out there picking up blocks and being a good teammate first. He's been rewarded for doing so with some targets. He's been reward for catching those targets with more opportunities to catch bigger targets. On Sunday he caught the biggest catch of his young career when the Lions targeted him late in the game and he came trough in the clutch. 

The trust is finally there. The Lions put a divisional game into the hands of Williams and he showed up for them. Don't just take it from me though. Here's what Lions' head coach Dan Campbell had to say after the game.

"He's part of the herd. He's been accepted." Campbell said. The way he works and the way he goes, and he blocks and he's starting to run some pretty good routes, and he's making some catches and there's a lot of guys that are beginning to trust him and that's been earned. No different than everybody else had earned it. You got to, whoever you are, offensive lineman, receiver or back, you got to earn your right. And man he's putting in the work so that was good to see. It was a huge moment. That was a huge play, and he just keeps getting better and better and better." 

There's still more work to be put in for Jameson Williams, but he is looking like a player on the rise for the first time in his career. That doesn't mean he's wide receiver one or anything. If you're looking for him to start really looking like the 12th overall pick, you're going to have to give it a little bit more time. It's coming and the last two weeks have showed that it's coming. Williams is on his way. 

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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