The Lions waived Williams (concussion) on Friday with an injury settlement.
Williams was expected to serve as the Lions' No. 1 wideout coming out of the preseason, but his reign atop the depth chart lasted just three quarters into the campaign, as he's been sidelined since suffering a concussion in Detroit's Week 1 loss to San Francisco. Considering that Williams hadn't even been cleared to resume practicing since landing on injured reserve Week 3, the wideout seemingly has multiple steps to clear in the concussion protocol before he'll explore signing with another team.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Looks doubtful for Week 6
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Lions head coach Dan Campbell suggested Tuesday that Williams (concussion) isn't on track to be activated from injured reserve ahead of the team's Week 6 game against the Bengals, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News reports. "It's off in the distance," Campbell said of Williams' potential return.
Campbell said a day earlier that Williams would have a chance at making it back this week, but the coach seemingly changed his tone after the receiver underwent an evaluation Tuesday. The fact that Williams doesn't look on track to play Week 6 isn't necessarily indicative of a setback; the wideout may have simply plateaued in his recovery from the concussion he sustained in the Lions' season-opening loss to the 49ers. With Quintez Cephus (collarbone) expected to join Williams on IR in the coming days, the Lions will likely head into the matchup with Cincinnati with Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown and KhaDarel Hodge as their starting receivers.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Week 6 return possible
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Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Williams (concussion) will undergo an evaluation Tuesday with the hope that he'll be cleared to return to practice this week, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News reports.
Williams has been sidelined since Week 1 and resided on injured reserve for the past three games, making him eligible to rejoin Detroit for practice this week. His upcoming evaluation should provide the Lions with a better sense of where he stands in his recovery from his concussion, but if Williams gets the green light to practice fully at some point Wednesday through Friday, he could be active for Sunday's game against the Bengals. An already shallow Lions wideout corps has sorely missed Williams, who entered the season as the team's No. 1 receiver.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Lands on IR
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Williams (concussion) has been placed on IR by the Lions.
With that, Williams is slated to miss Detroit's next three games, at a minimum. In his absence, Kalif Raymond, Quintez Cephus, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Trinity Benson are in line to head the team's WR corps for the time being.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Unlikely to play Week 3
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Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday that Williams (concussion) isn't expected to suit up Sunday against the Ravens, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Williams has been sidelined since taking a helmet-to-helmet hit Week 1 that forced him into the concussion protocol. With no return to practice in sight, there's no telling when he'll get through all five phases of the protocol to set himself up to get back on the field. In Williams' place, Quintez Cephus, Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Trinity Benson are poised to serve as the Lions' top four wide receivers.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Ruled out Monday
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Williams (concussion) has been ruled out ahead of Monday's contest against the Packers, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
The veteran wideout had just two receptions for 14 yards before leaving Week 1 with a concussion. Williams hasn't been able to practice all week so the designation isn't surprising, but it's telling the team hadn't even went through Saturday's practice before making the announcement. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Quintez Cephus and Kalif Raymond should see a healthy bump in playing time heading into Monday's contest.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Still not practicing
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Williams (concussion) remained absent from practice Friday, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Williams has been unable to practice at all this week and remains in concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head in the season opener against San Francisco. The wide receiver has an extra day to heal up with Detroit's next game coming Monday against the Packers, but that doesn't seem like it will be enough time for him to get back on the field given the lack of progress in his recovery up to this point.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Absent for another practice
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Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Williams (concussion) won't participate in Thursday's practice, Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.
Since entering the concussion protocol following Sunday's loss to the 49ers, Williams hasn't progressed enough from the head injury to even show up at the practice facility for meetings. With that in mind, Campbell conceded it "doesn't look great" for Williams' chances of playing Week 2 against the Packers, even with the longer turnaround for the Monday night game. Assuming Williams is inactive this week, Quintez Cephus and Trinity Benson would likely get more opportunities to share the field with starting outside receiver Kalif Raymond while rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown functions as the top option out of the slot.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: In concussion protocol
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Williams was placed in concussion protocol after taking a hard hit in Sunday's loss to the 49ers, Eric Woodyard of ESPN reports.
Williams will need to clear concussion protocol in order to suit up Week 2 against the Packers, though he'll have an extra day to do so since the NFC North rivalry game is scheduled for Monday night. Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Quintez Cephus likely will work as the Lions' top three wide receivers should Williams sit.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Exits game after hard hit
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Williams (undisclosed) caught two of three targets for 14 yards during Sunday's 41-33 loss to San Francisco.
Williams didn't do much before absorbing a helmet-to-helmit hit at the start of the third quarter that drew a personal foul from a San Francisco safety for hitting a defenseless receiver. While the extent of Williams' situation isn't clear, it would not be a surprise if he lands in the league's concussion protocol, which would put the veteran's status for Week 2 in question. While it helps that the Lions don't play until Monday night, look for Trinity Benson to see a heightened role if Williams doesn't suit up.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Not on injury report
Rotowire
Williams (groin) isn't listed on Wednesday's injury report ahead of the Lions' season opener Sunday against the 49ers.
Williams missed a few practices in late August but otherwise enjoyed a productive summer, seemingly establishing himself as the No. 1 wide receiver for new Lions quarterback Jared Goff. It's been five years since Williams saw even 70 targets in a season, but he's always been efficient on a per-target basis, and he now has a nice opportunity to see steady volume if he can stay healthy. Williams managed to play all 16 games in three consecutive seasons from 2016 through 2018 before playing through plantar fasciitis in 2019 and then missing all of 2020 with a shoulder injury.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: In line for large role
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Williams (groin) could handle a large target share as Detroit's clear No. 1 wide receiver, Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.
After the Lions parted ways with Breshad Perriman on Monday, Williams is clearly Detroit's top outside wide receiver. Each of the next three guys on the depth chart -- Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond and Quintez Cephus -- do their best work from the slot. While the Detroit passing game will likely revolve around tight end T.J. Hockenson and, when healthy, running back D'Andre Swift (groin) this season, Williams seems to have a fantastic opportunity to top the career-high 7.4 targets per game he saw with the Chargers in 2016, when the 29-year-old caught 69 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Bothered by groin
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Williams is dealing with a groin injury, but head coach Dan Campbell said the wideout will return to practice next week, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
It's unclear if the injury is the reason Williams didn't play in Detroit's second preseason game after catching two passes for 30 yards in the first. He struggled with injuries as a member of the Raiders the past two years, but reports out of camp suggests Williams is emerging as the No. 1 option for arguably the weakest wideout group in the league. He might not be a good fit for that role, but it could still lead to fantasy value if the target volume is right.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Treated like Detroit's top wideout
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Williams caught two of four targets for 30 yards in Friday's 16-15 preseason loss to the Bills.
Williams could be Detroit's No. 1 wide receiver this season, and quarterback Jared Goff treated him like one -- four of Goff's nine passes in this one went in Williams' direction. The 29-year-old wideout secured catches of 20 and 10 yards, but he also failed to get any separation on an end-zone target that was knocked away by the defender. Tight end T.J. Hockenson, who sat this one out with an undisclosed injury, is likely to be Goff's top target moving forward, but Williams is making a case to be next in the pecking order, and he'll look to strengthen that case against Pittsburgh in Week 2 of preseason.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Returns to practice
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Williams (groin/finger) returned to practice Monday, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Williams was held out of Saturday's practice due to a groin injury, but he was back in action following a brief absence. The 29-year-old also had been dealing with a dislocated pinky finger recently, but his return to the field bodes well for his status for Friday's exhibition game against the Bills.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Missing time with injury
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Williams did not practice Saturday due to a groin injury, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Williams is also evidently dealing with a dislocated pinky finger, but neither injury seems to be something that should keep the veteran wide receiver out for long. Breshad Perriman (hip) and Quintez Cephus (head) were also kept out of practice Saturday, so the Lions could simply be practicing caution with their pass-catching corps.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Playing through dislocated finger
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Williams dislocated the pinky finger on his left hand Tuesday, but he practiced Wednesday and said he felt no residual pain, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
The injury doesn't appear to be anything that will affect Williams' availability for next week's preseason opener against Buffalo, let alone Week 1 of the regular season. What's probably more concerning for the veteran's outlook is that reports of the Lions' Jared Goff-led offense haven't been encouraging through the first week of training camp.
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Lions' Tyrell Williams: Inking deal with Detroit
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Williams (shoulder) agreed Wednesday with the Lions on a one-year contract, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Signed by the Raiders to a four-year, $44 million contract two years ago, Williams put up a 42-651-6 stat line in 2019 before missing the entire 2020 campaign with a labrum injury. Las Vegas then released him in late February, making the 29-year-old wideout immediately eligible to sign with a new team. Williams took about a week to find his home, joining the new-look Lions with Jared Goff at quarterback, Dan Campbell as head coach and both Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones scheduled for free agency this spring. Williams' deal reportedly is worth up to $6.2 million, but his cap hit could be much lower if a large portion of the contract is just incentives. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network said Feb. 11 that Williams was expected to be fully healthy within two or three weeks, so he should be ready to go for OTAs.
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Tyrell Williams: Officially released
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The Raiders released Williams (shoulder) on Wednesday.
Reports of Williams' pending release initially surfaced back in January, so it doesn't come as any sort of surprise that the Raiders have now made the transaction official. Williams, who missed all of 2020 due to a labrum injury, was just two seasons into the four-year, $44 million deal he inked with the Raiders back in 2019. Per Tashan Reed of The Athletic, his release will save Las Vegas $11.6 million in cap space for 2021, and $23.1 million over the next two years. Now 29 years old, Williams -- when healthy -- stands to draw interest on the free-agent market from teams in need of veteran depth, but it's hard to picture him landing another starting gig.
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Raiders' Tyrell Williams: Expected to be cut
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The Raiders are expected to release Williams (shoulder) at the start of the new league year in March, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Williams missed the entire 2020 season due to a shoulder injury, for which he underwent surgery back in September, but Pelissero reports he's now just two to three weeks away from full health. The soon-to-be 29-year-old was fairly effective for the Raiders back in 2019, when he logged a 42-651-6 stat line in 14 contests despite battling plantar fasciitis, so he could be an intriguing free-agent option for teams in need of veteran help at wideout. Cutting Williams would free up roughly $11.6 million in salary cap for the Raiders in 2021.
