Team news: Detroit Lions | Page 5

The Lions activated WR Jameson Williams from his suspension and also downgraded RB Jahmyr Gibbs to doubtful with a hamstring injury.

Williams’ suspension was ended two weeks earlier than originally scheduled after the league adjusted their gambling policy and punishment guidelines. Williams will make his season debut Sunday against the Panthers, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll play with the Lions’ 2023 first-round pick quite yet. Gibbs is doubtful with a hamstring injury and being downgraded on a Saturday almost always means he won’t play. That makes David Montgomery, coming off his big day in Week 4, a very strong start this week.

Lions’ HC Dan Campbell said WR Amon-Ra St. Brown will not practice again today due to his abdomen injury, and the team expects to know more about his status for Sunday’s game vs. the Panthers in the next 24 hours.

Related Players: Josh Reynolds, Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams, Marvin Jones

It's likely time to start considering contingency plans, as this is St. Brown's third-straight missed practice of the week. It would be interesting to see Jameson Williams immediately step into a heightened role, but considering he's been away from the team for most of the last year-and-a-half, that seems unlikely. Reynolds and LaPorta need to be boosted up your lineup considerations.

For a second straight day, Lions’ WR Amon-Ra St. Brown did not practice today due to his abdomen injury.

Related Players: Josh Reynolds, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, Kalif Raymond

Help is on the way, in a sense, with Jameson Williams returning from his suspension, but it's hard to believe he's up-to-speed after missing so much of the preseason. Josh Reynolds could get a boost in workload if St. Brown misses, as he's been on the field on 114 of Jared Goff's 138 2023 dropbacks (82.6%).

Jameson Williams worked out twice a day with a personal trainer in Detroit, and he said he caught passes on the JUGS machine at his house.

“I did a lot of catching,” Williams said Tuesday, via video from Ben Raven of MLive. “I was doing like a hundred a day. It was every day. You can do the math on that. It was a lot of catches.”

Williams said his hamstring is healed up, and he’s “ready to go.”

Williams is expected to have a role this week, but the Lions likely have him on a pitch count as he works his way back into football shape, the story said. Outside of very deep leagues, it's probably best to wait-and-see on Williams this week, but is certainly worth a pickup and stash if he's still on your waiver wire.

Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was suspended for six games this offseason, but a revision to the NFL’s gambling policy last week meant that Williams’ suspension came to an end two weeks earlier than expected.

“If he does play, he can’t play 60 plays,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “That’s not smart. So we can’t do that to him. So we’ll see where it goes. It’s all about improvement, no different than the rest of the team. Every week we just got to get a little bit better. He just needs to get a little bit better and we’ll take it from there.”

Williams is able to return to all football activities this week, so he could play against the Panthers in Week 5 if the team feels he’s in good enough shape to get on the field. On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the team will see how the practice week unfolds before making any plans for what Williams’ role might be in that game. Those stashing Williams are probably eager to get him into lineups, but this seems like a wait-and-see week.

As a result of gambling policy changes, Titans’ OT Nick Petit-Frere and Lions’ WR Jameson Williams will be reinstated effective on Monday. They each had served four-game suspensions for violations of the league’s gambling policy.

Related Players: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Marvin Jones, Kalif Raymond

Williams could be eased back into action as he has hardly played with his offense since being taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but he is a great target for your inevitable playoff run. Reynolds, Jones, and Raymond will presumably all get majorly knocked down one or two pegs of usage when the sophomore wideout returns.

Lions’ RB David Montgomery officially is active tonight. Lions’ G Halapoulivaati Vaitai and CB Emmanuel Moseley are not.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

Montgomery is set to be the lead back, which shoots him back into the fringe RB2/3 consideration.

Lions RB David Montgomery will play tonight and be the lead back vs. the Packers, though there’s plenty in the game plan for rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, too.

Montgomery is set to be the lead back, which shoots him back into the RB2 consideration.

Lions RB David Montgomery (thigh), LT Taylor Decker (ankle) and CB Emmanuel Moseley (knee/hamstring) are all officially questionable for Thursday night vs. the Packers.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds, Zonovan Knight

Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs had a fantastic role in his game without Montgomery, handling 18 opportunities for 82 total yards. If Montgomery is a go, he will very likely take back control of the majority of early-down snaps. If he's out, Gibbs is an RB1.

Lions HC Dan Campbell said that running back David Montgomery, who sat out Week 3 with a thigh injury, is moving toward getting back in the lineup this week.

Related players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds, Zonovan Knight

With Montgomery out in Week 3, Gibbs got 17 carries and went for 80 yards. Reynolds and Knight each got three carries. If Monty is back for Week 4, a Thursday night game, expect him to go back to getting a bulk of the carries with Gibbs mixing in and perhaps getting more targets in the pass game. Gibbs had just one catch in Week 3. Montgomery carried 21 times in Week 1 and 16 in Week 2, scoring a TD in both games.