Pressers and scrums: Strength the key to Williams' improvement, Glasgow's importance, a better Hutchinson and more

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Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, wide receivers and assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery and offensive line coach and run game coordinator Hank Fraley met with the media on Tuesday.

Here are the highlights from those sessions.

If you can’t get faster, get stronger

Jameson Williams has taken his game to a different level this offseason. It’s been readily apparent, particularly in the development of his route tree, which now contains a lethal ability to slam on the brakes and sharper change-of-direction skills overall.

Montgomery explained how Williams has been able to take that step.

“This offseason, where I think he grew the most, is I really talked to him about strength and getting better and stronger, his lower quarters, and changing his body,” Montgomery said. “Even if you don't change weight-wise, you can change strength-wise. And he's gotten a lot stronger.

“There were a couple of carrots dangled to get stronger,” Montgomery continued. “To be able to get out of the breaks, you've got to have stronger lower quarters. And, man, he came back, and I could immediately see the difference in his body type and also his movement skills. It became not just explosive, but it became to a point where now I can go be explosive and still stop on a dime.”

Montgomery said getting stronger is something Williams has likely heard earlier in his career. Regardless, the message truly took hold this offseason, once it was made a point of emphasis.

“It’s like talking to anybody, you can maybe say it once or twice, but when you’re leading with that constantly, constantly, constantly, it’s going to have some type of effect on you,” Montgomery said.

Ghostbuster Glasgow

The Lions continue to praise the efforts and execution of rookie Tate Ratledge from his early offseason experimentation at center. Still, the decision to turn to veteran Graham Glasgow boiled down to the veteran’s intelligence and ability to settle everything down for a group that got an injection of youth this offseason.

Fraley said one of Glasgow’s best traits, no matter what new things might be thrown at Detroit’s front, is that the veteran won’t “chase ghosts,” causing the protection to unnecessarily break down.

“It settles the whole offense down, (adding) confidence,” Fraley said. “Sometimes, you see it with the quarterbacks, right? They know if somebody in front of them can control it, take charge, that’s what you want. So Goff and he are always on the same page. Anytime somebody had to go down, he always moved right back in there at center.

“…He’s a calming presence for everybody,” Fraley said. “His note-taking is one of the best I’ve been around. He really keeps all of his old notebooks from last year; they’re still stacked up there. So, all of his Green Bay notes from last year, he’s already referencing, ‘Oh, well we did this last year, are we doing this again?’ They’re so detailed, and he keeps them there for the year. That’s how him, and I would say, (Frank) Ragnow were. Their books all stayed there through the years, and they just keep it going like a library for them.”

Since someone in the chat recently asked why there isn’t more cross-training of the backup interior linemen at center — guys like Kayode Awosika and Netane Muti — I asked Fraley, a longtime NFL center, what is required to handle the transition.

He said there are mental and physical challenges. From the cognitive perspective, it’s the ability to consistently process a rapidly changing picture. Physically, it requires an agility not all guards have.

“There’s a lot of stuff body-wise,” Fraley said. “You’re closer to the ball, can you reach shades in this league? That’s one of the hardest things to do. Can you reach a 2i, can you reach a shade?”

Fraley noted that Awosika is the team’s emergency center and even played the role in a practice last year. Fraley also used the question as an opportunity to highlight why the team felt confident with Ratledge snapping the ball.

“His interview was great,” Fraley said. “He can process. Put him under pressure, how quickly he can fire it out? If you install something, how fast they get it back to you? If they’ve got to think, I joke with them all of the time, ‘Ope, delay of game. Timeout. I’ll make you guys think fast.’ That’s what centers have to be able to do.”

Ready to rock

Campbell is just as excited as the fan base to see defensive end Aidan Hutchinson take the field on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers after the Pro Bowler’s lengthy recovery from last year’s broken leg.

For those of you who didn’t have an opportunity to attend a training camp practice, you’ve likely been reading the reports about how good Hutchinson has been looking. Campbell added fuel to that fire on Tuesday, giving his perspective about why the third-year defender might be a better player coming off the injury.

“I just feel like he’s improved himself, even from last year,” Campbell said. “Just his ability to bend, his mechanics with his hands, his hips, there are tricks of the trade you learn along the way as you grow, and I do feel like from a flexibility standpoint, and then just continuing to hone his own skills, I think you can elevate yourself even a little bit more. I just feel like he’s done that, and he’s going to give you everything he’s got every play he’s out there. Every play. That’s why I’m excited, because I know the guy’s going to give us everything he’s got, no matter what it is.”

The thought of an even-better Hutchinson is scary, at least for opposing offensive tackles attempting to block him. When he went down last season, he was on a blistering pace, leading the league with 7.5 sacks and 45 quarterback pressures through five games.

Knocking on the door

When it came time to trim the offseason roster to 53, general manager Brad Holmes went above and beyond, slicing to 50 before adding a few players from outside the organization later in the week.

Among the names who ended up on the outside looking in was undrafted rookie receiver Jackson Meeks, who had a strong training camp and two impressive preseason performances.

Still, that wasn’t enough to justify a spot in Holmes’ eyes. However, after Meeks cleared waivers, the Lions happily added the rookie back to the practice squad to continue his development.

According to Montgomery, Meeks is close. The coach expects the rookie to contribute at some point this season.

“I think he's deserving,” Montgomery said. “In this league, I think he's a player that can play (and) play at a high level. Where we are as a program, right, is probably a great determining factor for some of that. We have gotten to a point, with Dan and Brad, to where I think we've done just about as (good) a job as I've been around of creating that echelon that's so heavy at the top. …So breaking into that, for anybody, can be tough.

“But I'll say to him, though, his time is coming,” Montgomery said. “You've got to be ready when your time comes, and it is coming. I feel it. I think there's no holding him out from becoming a great player in this league. Just be ready, Meeksie, just be ready.”

After three middling seasons at Georgia, Meeks transferred to Syracuse and had a breakout season in 2024, racking up more than 1,000 yards and leading college football in contested catches.

He showed some of that prowess during his first NFL offseason, catching 11-of-14 targets for 146 yards and two scores during the preseason.

A love letter to Lambeau

Campbell has always been something of a football romantic, but that was on full display Tuesday, when talking about the opportunity to open the season at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

“Man, we love Lambeau,” Campbell said. “It’s awesome. That’s one of those places, on the eighth day, the good Lord made Lambeau. …First Super Bowl, Ice Bowl, the history it’s got. It’s in the same location, it’s been upgraded, all those (things).

"It’s got that deep history to it," Campbell said. "It’s the grass, man. It’s the elements, it’s just the mystique. It’s awesome. If you love football, you love going to play there. So, our guys look forward to it. It’s one of those special places to go play.”

Three wins there in four tries as Detroit’s coach probably doesn’t hurt, either.

Keep studying greatness

There was an expectation that Jahmyr Gibbs would be more involved in the passing game during his second season. However, he actually saw fewer targets than in his rookie year. On the plus side, he was much more efficient, averaging 9.9 yards per reception, compared to 6.1.

Some nagging offseason injuries prohibited the Lions from doing more with Gibbs as a receiver last year. However, he stayed healthy this offseason, which could lead to that developmental jump.

Scottie Montgomery, who served as Gibbs’ position coach his first two seasons, has continued to work with the back in a receiving capacity. Plus, the coach has continued to pair the back with Amon-Ra St. Brown to foster that aspect of Gibbs' development.

“Yeah, the more he stays around Saint, the better he'll be,” Montgomery said. “Just watch Saint, do what Saint does.”

Montgomery said the most important thing for Gibbs will be reps. Experience is the only way for him to close the knowledge gap the roster’s receivers have on him, given they've played the position most of their lives.

“I think everyone here knows he's physically talented enough to do everything the receiver position can do,” Montgomery said. “Now, you have to have the knowledge and a lifelong feeling of route running — is the nickel buzzing? Is the nickel staying over the top of me? Is it Cover-2? So I have to get him thinking on the run a little quicker when he's at the receiver position, which he's done a good job of. I think that's the next point, it’s just seeing it and experiencing it enough."

Veteran standouts

Two older veterans got praised for their under-the-radar camp performances: DJ Reader and Kalif Raymond.

“I think he’s one of those guys who’s just silently gotten better, too,” Campbell said about Reader. “He was coming off the quad injury and worked himself back. Rehabbed, got back. I thought he had a really good year for us last year. And he looks better, too, because he had a full offseason, right? He’s almost two years removed from the injury he had, so he’s in a good spot, and absolutely, we’re going to need him.

“He’s been one of those, I hate to say silent, but it’s kind of been this quiet, really kick-ass camp,” Campbell said. “He really has, man. He’s shown up. He’s a staple for us right now, and yes, we’re going to need him. He’s big for us.”

As for Raymond, he’s in line to start the season as the team’s No. 3 receiver after the Lions traded Tim Patrick to the Jaguars.

Raymond is coming off his least-productive campaign in four years with the Lions, catching just 17 passes in 2024. Regardless, any thought he might be slowing down was erased with his offseason performance.

“It was probably one of the more consistent springs that we’ve seen at the wide receiver position, being here and being detailed,” Montgomery said. “His catch-to-target ratio, his one-on-one wins, his ability to separate in tight coverage, his ability to make plays down the field. We’re tracking this a little bit differently than maybe everybody else. We’re just trying to make sure that we get the upper-echelon (performance) out of each player, and he is playing closer to his roof now than he was before. We really like where he is, and hopefully, he can have a tremendous role in helping us this year.”

Where rookie receiver impressed

Montgomery said one of the most endearing traits about rookie Isaac TeSlaa has been his ability to learn from and correct his mistakes.

"The one thing that we saw every day was that no matter what we did to him to make him understand, 'That's not good enough. That's not good enough,' he kept correcting it,” Montgomery said. “…What we would see is he would take it from the meeting room to the walkthrough to the individual drills to the practice tape. When he failed in practice, he very rarely failed again in that same detail.

“That lets us know, first of all, he cares,” Montgomery said. “It (also) lets us know he's in his playbook. When you're in your playbook, you're going to get the respect of the people in the room. And when your mental errors are low, you get the respect of the people in the room. A lot of other people on the outside, they see playmaking, and they think that's it. Well, you've got to be in the right spot, especially now, when the lights are truly on."