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BC Lions writer

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The catcalls and derision started even before practice, and Chris Williams couldn't have been happier taking the heat.

“Who’s the new guy?” said Travis Lulay with a smile, and it went from there. For a few minutes, it didn’t matter how long it had been since Williams had last wore a helmet in a practice and the rehabilitation it took to come back from an ACL tear that marked the end of his stay with the Ottawa Redblacks last season.

He officially became a member of the B.C. Lions Monday, participating in his first workout before he comes off the six-game injured list next week. He’ll almost certainly take the position of Nick Moore in the lineup once the CFL team completes its road assignment against the Edmonton Eskimos Friday (6:30 p.m., TSN; pre-game 4:30 p.m., TSN 1040).

That’s when the debate can really start.

B.C hasn't exactly had a slow start offensively, with the team Williams is about to join sitting second to his former one in the nation’s capital in receiving yards. But the one question asked more often about the Lions this year is how much better they will be when Williams makes his B.C debut, even if putting him on roster means Moore, currently their most productive pass-catcher, has to sit out.

Williams should be in a good position to assess the two groups. He was one of four, 1,000-yard receivers with Greg Ellington, Ernest Jackson and Brad Sinopoli on the Grey Cup champions last year.

“We put in a lot of work to get those four 1,000-yard guys in Ottawa for the last two years, and this group knows the work that needs to be done,” said Williams, who gave Moore a huge hug before taking his first practice rep with the Lions. “I think this group has a good shot (at 1,000-yard seasons)”

If it does happen, it will come at the expense of a current starter, confirmed coach/GM Wally Buono, who says altering his ratio in a substantial way to play four imports regularly only would hurt his team elsewhere.

But it was pretty clear from his first day on the field the Lions are more than anxious to see what Williams can produce. He says he agonized the last time he was forced to remain on the sidelines for a lengthy period, when he once challenged the validity of his Hamilton Tiger-Cats contract in order to try out with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.

“This was different,” Williams said. It was different until it all seemed a lot more normal at last Monday.

LIONS TALES: Though QB Jon Jennings threw lightly prior to practice and left his teammates only to work on his injured throwing shoulder with stretch bands at practice, the Lions brought in depth in former Seattle Seahawks backup candidate Jake Heaps Monday. Heaps had two failed stints in Seattle, and was working for Russell Wilson at a camp in Anchorage, Alaska when the Lions called...Tony Burnett and Anthony Gaitor were back among the defensive starters. Also with the first group: Third-year non-import Maxx Forde.