In 2023, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s output reached a new height. The Lions wide receiver finished the 2023 season with 1,539 yards and 10 touchdowns from scrimmage, following up his 1,256 yards and six touchdowns in the 2022 campaign.
His strong play earned him a spot on Detroit’s first team as an All-Pro and a lucrative $120 million, four-year contract extension.
Even though St. Brown appeared to have everything under control in 2023, the former fourth-round pick disclosed on the most recent season of Netflix’s Receiver that he struggled with major injury concerns all through the previous season.
This included pulling his oblique “all the way off the bone,” according to ProFootballTalk.com’s Josh Alper.
After St. Brown’s toe injury against the Seahawks in Week 2, the injuries began to show themselves. Even though he finished the game with nine receptions for 102 yards, the wide receiver said that he sustained an oblique injury in that game that he initially thought was just a minor hip pointer.
He was still in the starting lineup for Week 3. St. Brown remarked, “I thought it was a hip pointer because I’ve had a hip pointer before” (via Alper).”Perhaps there is just a minor bruising. And I think to myself, “Damn, I still hurt my toe.” I’ve now sustained an indirect hurt.
Before Week 4, the wide receiver had only rated his agony as an eight or a nine out of ten, but he still showed up and played against the Packers, gathering 56 yards and a score.
After his oblique injury was further evaluated with an MRI, St. Brown was unable to play in his team’s Week 5 victory against the Panthers.
The receiver made his comeback in Week 6 and went on to surpass 100 receiving yards in four straight games. During the last stretch of the season, he was involved in at least 85% of his team’s offensive plays in all but two of the games.
Going into the 2024 season, the Lions have a lot more money committed to St. Brown, and because they have become a legitimate contender in the NFC, they might not be as willing to see their star play through injuries.
Naturally, given Josh Reynolds’s passing in 2024, that will be easier said than done. Next season, the offense will be depending more on Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond, so if their best receiver is injured, the Lions might struggle to maintain momentum.
