Notes: Jamaal Williams wins Week 17 Ground Player of the Week

Jamaal Williams got national recognition for his career-high performance against the Chicago Bears.

Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams has won the fan-voted FedEx Ground Player of the Week award. Williams racked up 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries—and a 13-yard catch on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Prior to this game, Williams had rushed for 100 yards just three times in his career, and the 144 yards were 31 more than he’s ever had in a game.

Williams has been the heart and soul of this team ever since he became a more vocal leader this past offseason—as highlighted by HBO’s documentary series “Hard Knocks.” The veteran running back has backed up his words on the field with a career season. Williams currently has a league-leading 15 rushing touchdowns and he’s just 6 yards short of his first 1,000-yard season.

This week, Williams beat out Chargers running back Austin Ekeler (122 rushing yards, 2 TDs) and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (121 rushing yards, 1 TD) for the award.

Williams is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, and with only one more regular season game left, we could be nearing the end of his Lions career. That said, given his on-field success and off-the-field leadership, he may be one of the team’s biggest in-house priorities prior to free agency.

Here are the rest of today’s Notes:

• The Lions had so many highlights against the Bears, that I bet the team had a hard time narrowing down the highlights. Here are the best ones, narrated by Lions play-by-play radio announcer Dan Miller:

• Hey, this is a timely article. Drew Magary—a Vikings fan formerly of Deadspin (before it sucked)—writes “Please, God, let this be the end of Aaron Rodgers.”

• Several Lions fans talked about their reaction and relationship with Damar Hamlin:

And if you haven’t already, check out Tyler Dunne’s profile on Hamlin from 2021.

• File this under mildly interesting:

• Lions defensive line coach Todd Wash talked about the sudden rise of James Houston. Ben Raven has the story for MLive. You can also watch Wash’s presser here.

• Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs is texting (and bribing) his former Lions teammates, hoping to motivate them to beat the Packers—which could potentially pave the way for Seattle to make the playoffs: