It isn't often that you hear Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell publicly express his disappointment with a player, but that's exactly what he did with wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on Friday.
Before practice, Campbell revealed that while Peoples-Jones has been working hard, he simply hasn't seen what he expected to out of the veteran wideout, noting that the team is looking for him to "take another step here."
"He's a guy I expect more out of too, and he knows that," Campbell said, per Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. "Now, he's working, he works at it, man. He wants it, but we just need him to take another step here."
Peoples-Jones was expected to be one of the top options for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and at the very least, he was expected to grab the No. 4 spot if he lost out to Kalif Raymond, who has been miles better than him dating back to the offseason program.
However, Peoples-Jones has been very quiet, something that has been highlighted even more with other receivers standing out around him on a daily basis.
"(The expectation) was to come in here and compete for that third, fourth receiver. That's what it was," Campbell said. "So much of it is, 'All right, who's going to fill in for Josh Reynolds? Who's going to take that? Is it by committee or is there a guy that…is going to step up and become that for us?'"
Peoples-Jones was never considered a lock to make the roster, but he certainly had a better chance than most considering his advantage in experience over most of the team's options for depth roles. After Campbell's comments, it's clear we need to adjust our thinking.
