The Detroit Lions’ margin for error to make the playoffs is dwindling, and it looks as if they’ll enter the stretch run without one of their best offensive talents.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown could miss the next couple games with an ankle injury he suffered in the Lions’ 31-24 Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“I don’t feel like this is long-, long-term, so that’s the good news,” Campbell said. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t be here for – it could be a week or two, maybe. If we’re lucky.”
St. Brown, who leads the Lions with 75 catches for 884 yards, injured his left ankle in the first quarter while blocking on a run play, when offensive linemen Kayode Awosika and Penei Sewell fell into the back of his leg.
St. Brown limped off the field with trainers after the play, went straight to the locker room and didn’t return.
The Lions shifted offensive personnel in St. Brown’s absence, using Jameson Williams as their No. 1 receiver and playing Issac TeSlaa and Tom Kennedy more in supporting roles.
Williams finished with seven catches for 144 yards and a touchdown, but the Lions missed St. Brown in other areas, such as blocking on run plays.
“When you lose a guy like Saint, it’s tough,” Campbell said. “There’s so many things that he brings to our offense. Everybody knows the production and the versatility he has, but also all the dirty work he does in the run game. All the little things, man. The nuances of where you line up to where you go, to who you block if it’s this look, to now if they go here you need to slide back to do that. I mean, he’s so fricking smart, man, and he’s tough. And so there’s a million jobs he does and he does them at a high level that it does, it hurts when you lose him.”
Complicating matters on offense, the Lions have already lost tight end Sam LaPorta to back surgery this year, and they played Thursday without No. 3 receiver Kalif Raymond because of an ankle injury and tight end Brock Wright because of a neck injury.
The Lions (7-5) host the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, Dec. 4, in a battle between playoff bubble teams and then visit the NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams in Week 15.
They likely need at least a split in those games to make the playoffs.
