Amon-Ra St. Brown: 'You're Only as Good as Your Last Week'
Lions star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown got back on track – and in a big way – a week ago against the Denver Broncos. He produced seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown in the blowout win over the Broncos.
Prior to the Week 15 contest with Denver, though, St. Brown had gone two consecutive weeks, against the Saints and the Bears, respectively, with less than five catches and under 50 yards receiving.
It was a far cry from the numbers the third-year receiver collectively put up from Detroit’s season opener against the Chiefs until the team’s Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Packers. During that stretch of time (he missed the Lions’ Week 5 game with Carolina), he never amassed less than five receptions, and averaged nearly 100 yards per game (99.3). He also produced north of 100 receiving yards six times in what was a 10-game span.
St. Brown seemingly returned to his consistent ways last week against Sean Payton’s team.
Yet, even as he experienced his fair share of struggles the previous two weeks, he never altered his routine.
“The two games before that (prior to Denver) – the Saints and Chicago – I think Chicago was like an outlier. Nothing was really going for us, especially in that second half. But, for me, my preparation doesn’t change,” St. Brown told reporters Friday. “Whether I have a great game, whether I don’t, I’m going to stick to what I do, because that’s kind of been what I’ve been doing since I got here and even before I got here. So, the work ethic never changes, and I know that works for me. So, just got to keep going, stay focused and keep working.”
With three games remaining, St. Brown has already racked up 1,000-plus receiving yards for the second consecutive season (1,175). With that total, he currently ranks sixth in receiving yards on the year.
Additionally, he’s accumulated the seventh-most receptions (94), and is easily on pace for another 100-catch campaign. The USC product caught a career-best 106 balls a season ago.
Despite all the success he’s garnered early on in his career, he’s still out to prove himself on a weekly basis. And, his way of doing so is through being consistently productive.
“I think for me, but especially in this league, you’re only as good as your last week really,” St. Brown expressed. “And, it’s easy to do it maybe one or two weeks, six weeks, a year. But, to do it year after year after year is what’s hard. And, for me, that’s something I prided myself on, is not (being) a guy that can only do it one time. I can keep doing it, year in and year out, and that’s kind of been my goal.”
Staring St. Brown and his teammates in the face now is a chance to clinch the NFC North division title on Sunday in Minnesota. If the Lions secure the victory over their divisional rivals (or tie), they’ll capture the division crown for the first time since the 1993 season.
Even with St. Brown admitting that beating the Vikings would elicit a “special moment,” he is treating Detroit’s Week 16 tilt just like any other game.
“It’s been fun. It’s been, I mean, I think just like any other week for us. Work week,” St. Brown said about preparing for the Vikings this week. “But, we all know what’s on the line. I think for us going into this week, it was just about building off kind of what we did last week. That same way we approached last week is the same way we wanted to approach this week. And, I think we have, and (we’re) just focusing on ourselves and not trying to do anything too much out of the ordinary.”
