Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff is apparently ready to put the controversy with wide receiver Jameson Williams to rest for good.
Goff was asked on June 6 about the tweet Williams liked in March suggesting that the Lions could be a trade destination for quarterback Lamar Jackson. Williams has already shrugged off the potential controversy, saying he had no intention of taking a shot at his quarterback, and Goff took his turn to respond on Tuesday.
Jared Goff Pushes Aside Question
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported, the subject of Jameson’s tweet came up during a media session following the first day of mandatory minicamp. As Birkett noted, Goff was in no mood to entertain the question and offered a pithy response. The Lions quarterback also said he saw nothing wrong with Williams liking and supporting the Ravens quarterback.
“You guys are bored, huh?” Goff told reporters. “Yeah, it’s all right. He likes Lamar, that’s OK. I’ve got a lot of receivers I like but I love Jamo and we’re going to have a lot of fun this year.”
Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff doesn’t sweat Jameson Williams’ admiration for Lamar Jackson: “I’ve got a lot of receivers I like but I love Jamo” t.co/guOhU6XsBy via @freep
Williams had already addressed the incident, telling reporters on May 25 that he and Goff have a tight bond and he did not intend to make a dig at his quarterback.
“It wasn’t no shots at Jared Goff. I love Goff,” Williams told reporters. “You know, we got a perfect relationship. It’s just a liked tweet. Nothing has went down in our relationship.
“We still have a tight relationship. Nothing’s really happened between that. It’s social media. It’s Twitter.”
Williams went on to chide the media for making so much of his liking a tweet, saying there is no deeper meaning to his posts on social media.
“Things I like on Instagram, Twitter, I hope those don’t lead people the wrong way,” Williams said. “It’s social media, you know? People take social media like it’s right here. This is real life and that’s social media.”
Friction on the Field for Lions Teammates
While Goff and Williams have both insisted that there is no substance to the controversy, the two have also been disjointed on the field at times during the team’s early practices. John Maakaron of SI.com’s All Lions reported on June 1 that Goff grew “visibly frustrated” with Williams when the receiver apparently ran a route incorrectly at practice.
Maakaron noted that the two had a difficult time connecting through passing drills.
“Out on the practice field, the connection between Goff and Williams was not crisp and consistent, with the former first-round pick not exactly in the position Goff expected him on certain routes,” Maakaron wrote. “After one particular route, in which the pass was incomplete, Goff was observed being visibly frustrated and gesturing where he thought Williams should have been.”
Maakaron noted that there were no lingering tensions, with Goff and Williams walking off the field together to the next drill.
Goff and Williams will be delayed in working on their chemistry during the regular season. The second-year receiver will start the season by serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s rules against gambling.
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Lions QB Jared Goff Claps Back at Question About Controversy With WR