The Lions will play the first six games of the 2023 season without wide receiver Jameson Williams after he was suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy and General Manager Brad Holmes discussed Williams’ suspension during a press conference on Saturday.
Williams did not bet on NFL games, but he placed bets on college football from the team’s facility. That is why he was suspended for less time than former teammates C.J. Moore and Quintez Cephus, who were both released after being banned for at least a season, and Williams’ contrite response is why Holmes said the team has “no real concerns going forward” with the wideout.
“Look, he made a mistake,” Holmes said, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “He made a mistake. He takes accountability of it, he knows it. Yes, he is young, and he understands the mistake he’s made. We’ve had transparent, open conversations about it, but we have confidence that he’s going to take the approach, he’s going to have the right response, in terms of what he needs to do.”
Williams missed the first 11 games of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, so the suspension means that he will miss 17 of his first 23 games as a professional player. Once the suspension is up, the Lions will be hoping that Williams will be making more frequent appearances in the lineup and that he’ll use them to show off the skills that made him a first-round pick in 2022.
