Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson and the Detroit Lions are working to mend their relationship, and a lot of progress seems to have been made on that front.

So much progress, in fact, that Johnson was a guest at Lions minicamp this week and is willing to mentor second-year receiver Jameson Williams any way that he can. 

Johnson talked about his willingness to work with Williams during an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket this past week.

Via NFL.com:

“I connected with Jamo yesterday really for the first time, and I look forward to just being around and being a shoulder for him to lean on,” Johnson said. “Extremely talented kid. We saw him when he touched the field last year for the first time. I look forward to just helping him build the level of consistency and being the pro he wants to be, man. Anything I can to do help him, I’ll do that and I’ll be there.”

Williams’ career has gotten off to an extremely rocky start.

After being selected with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Williams was able to appear in just six games due to injury, catching one pass for 40 yards.

The Lions are still expecting him to take a big leap forward in his second season but they are going to have to wait until Week 7 for that to start happening. Williams will have to miss the first six games of the season due to a suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy. Williams bet on non-NFL games but did so from the Lions team facility. That resulted in a six-game suspension. The Lions had several players get caught for similar infractions.

The other big aspect of this is the fact that Johnson is again a significant part of the Lions franchise.

Johnson is one of the best players in team history and one of the best wide receivers in NFL history. He shockingly retired from the NFL while still in his prime and did not leave on good terms with the franchise over repayment of his signing bonus. The two sides have shown a willingness to mend the relationship in recent months and that process seems to be going well. 

That can only be good news for the Lions. Not only to have a franchise great be around the team, but also with his willingness to help the next generation of Lions pass catchers reach their potential.