NOVEMBER 28: St. Brown is believed to be coping with a low ankle sprain, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports. That points further in direction of only a short-term absence, and Pelissero adds to little surprise an IR stint isn’t expected on this case. The Lions will only play one game between now and December 14.
NOVEMBER 27: The Lions have persevered through several injuries throughout the season to stay within the thick of the playoff race. But currently sitting outside of the postseason with only five games remaining, Detroit has an uphill battle on its hands. That battle shall be made a bit tougher because the Lions may very well be without leading wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for the subsequent two games.
St. Brown was knocked out of today’s game against the Packers when left guard Kayode Awosika rolled up on his ankle from behind while the receiver was blocking. St. Brown was capable of limp off the sector, but he went straight to the locker room and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the sport. With out a diagnosis just yet, head coach Dan Campbell informed the media of the situation.
“I don’t feel like that is long, long-term, in order that’s the excellent news,” Campbell said (per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “But that doesn’t mean it won’t be here for — it may very well be per week or two, perhaps, if we’re lucky.”
Working against the Lions is the undeniable fact that, unlike every other team playing on Thanksgiving Day, Detroit and Dallas don’t get a 10-day rest as they play one another for Thursday Night Football next week. The Lions will get a 10-day rest the next week, though, before they head out for a troublesome trip to Los Angeles.
The Lions have already lost star tight end Sam LaPorta for, likely, the remaining of the season, and wide receiver Kalif Raymond (ankle) and tight end Brock Wright (neck) were ruled out for today’s game. Without St. Brown on the sector, Jameson Williams took over the WR1 role and put up big numbers as Jared Goff‘s major weapon. Rotational receiver Isaac TeSlaa and practice squad elevation Tom Kennedy were asked to step up into complimentary roles and delivered a combined six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.
If the Lions are going to be without St. Brown for 2 weeks, they could look so as to add a body or two. Raymond may have the option to play next week, and the team also has Georgia seventh-round rookie Dominic Lovett on the 53-man roster, but Lovett has mostly been a special teamer. Along with Kennedy, Detroit also rosters Malik Cunningham and undrafted rookie Jackson Meeks on the practice squad.
Whatever route they select, the Lions have a troublesome road ahead of them. Depending on the outcomes of the Bears’ trip to Philadelphia tomorrow night, the Detroit may very well be as many as two games behind the present division-leader. They already are essentially two games behind the second-place Packers, since Green Bay swept the season series and would win a one-on-one tiebreaker. They would want some help to maneuver right into a Wild Card spot, as well. And that doesn’t mention the undeniable fact that the Lions have two current playoff teams remaining on the schedule, and a Week 17 trip to Minnesota is the one time they’ll see a sub-.500 team for the remaining of the 12 months.
The schedule ahead is tough enough by itself for the Lions. Opening up this difficult closing stretch without their top receiving weapon will make the road that much steeper. St. Brown will likely have some testing done in the approaching days to find out the severity of his injury and provides the team an idea of just how long they’ll be without him.