Amon-Ra St. Brown Has Not Dropped a Pass Since Week 2
While Detroit Lions 2021 first-round pick Penei Sewell has been receiving all the fanfare for the solid start to his NFL career, fellow first-year pro Amon-Ra St. Brown has quietly been putting together a productive rookie campaign.
Week by week, St. Brown, a fourth-round pick (No. 112 overall) in the 2021 draft, has been growing into an increasingly reliable target for Jared Goff and the Lions' passing attack.
Through 13 games (six starts) this season, the USC product has put up 57 receptions for 511 yards and a touchdown. He's also logged at least eight receptions and 73 yards each of the past two weeks, including a career-high 10 catches for 86 yards and the game-winning score (also his first ever NFL TD) in the Lions' Week 13 win against the Minnesota Vikings.
The chemistry that Goff and St. Brown have developed has become more and more noticeable in recent weeks.
"I think just with time, we had a lot of new guys on the team, new coaches, new receivers. So, I think it took time for everyone to adjust," St. Brown said Thursday, when asked about the reason behind the increased level of chemistry between him and Goff. "And you know, (training) camp wasn't too long. We didn't have a lot of time to do that. So, I think as the season just kept going, Jared started trusting the receivers, we started trusting him, the playbook started becoming more natural for all of us. And each week, I feel like we're just progressing as an offense."
Perhaps the most impressive stat for the California native thus far this season is that he hasn't dropped a pass thrown his way since Week 2.
And now with Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson out for the remainder of the season, St. Brown is expected to garner an increased number of targets on a weekly basis.
"Losing a guy like that just means we got to step up, other players, whether that's the tight end, receivers, running backs, we all have to step up and make plays," St. Brown told reporters, after hearing of the news of Hockenson being lost for the season.
St. Brown, who has accumulated 32 targets over his last four games, has a chance to close out his rookie season in a strong fashion. And, he has a couple of goals in mind.
"I want to, my personal, I want to get a 100-yard game. That's a personal goal of mine," St. Brown said. "And something I just want to keep working on is yards after the catch. Catch a 5-yard route and make it 20, 40-plus yards. So, that just comes with, you got to break tackles, you got to be great with the ball in your hands. So, that's something I just want to keep working on."
