It’s rare to hear Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell publicly express his displeasure with a player, but that’s exactly what he did with wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on Friday.
Before practice, Campbell stated that, while Peoples-Jones has worked hard, he hasn’t seen what he expected from the veteran wideout, stressing that the team is waiting for him to “take another step here.”
“He’s a guy I expect more from, and he understands that,” Campbell told Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. “Now, he’s working on it, guy. He wants it, but we simply need him to take a step further.”
Peoples-Jones was expected to be a top contender for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and he was expected to take the No. 4 spot if he lost to Kalif Raymond, who has been miles ahead of him since the offseason program.
However, Peoples-Jones has been extremely quiet, which has been underlined even more by other receivers stepping out around him on a daily basis.
“The expectation was to come in here and compete for the third and fourth receivers. “That’s what it was,” Campbell explained. “So much of it is, ‘All right, who’s going to stand in for Josh Reynolds? Who is going to take that? Is it a committee decision, or will one individual take on the responsibility?
Peoples-Jones was never considered a lock to make the roster, but he had a better chance than most because of his experience compared to the rest of the team’s depth choices. Following Campbell’s statements, it’s evident that we need to shift our perspective.