This week’s Midweek Mailbag covers our thoughts on the Jameson Williams suspension, more trade talk, and if there’s any concern with the offensive line.
Late Monday night, news broke that Detroit Lions wideout Jameson Williams is facing a two-game suspension for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substance policy. While that official ruling has curiously not been handed down this week, Williams’ statement seems to suggest it’s coming, and coach Dan Campbell also admitted this week that they’re preparing to be without him. It only seems like a matter of time before the ruling is official.
So this week on the Midweek Mailbag podcast, Erik Schlitt and I offered our initial reactions to the news. Can the Lions continue to trust Williams? Do we even have enough information to pass judgment on Williams? Or does the specific nature of the violation not even matter, because this was almost certainly a preventable mistake on Williams’ part?
Then we break down the football side of things: Will the Lions feel this loss against the Titans or the Packers ? Which players will need to step up in Williams’ absence? And will teams play them differently with no threat of Jamo over the top?
After that, we move on to several other topics, including a lot more talk about potential trades before the November 5 deadline. Here’s a breakdown of this week’s episode, with timestamps of each conversation:
- 3:00 – 18:15 — Jameson Williams reactions
- 18:15 – 29:00 — Trade talks: Do the Lions have urgency to get a deal done ASAP? Is James Houston a legitimate trade piece?
- 30:30 – 37:10 — Is Taylor Decker on the decline? Should we be concerned about his play?
- 37:10 – 43:30 — What role will Ifeatu Melifonwu play when/if he comes back?
- 43:30 – 46:00 — Has Trevor Nowaske won the SAM linebacker role?
- 46:00 – 54:00 — Who do you want the Lions to face this week: Will Levis or Mason Rudolph?