Amon-Ra St. Brown: Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs Is 'Just a Freak'

The Detroit Lions will be squaring off with a Carolina Panthers team devoid of its top two cornerback on Sunday. Both Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson suffered injuries in Week 3 that will cause them to sit out Sunday and the following three weeks as a result of being placed on Carolina's injured reserve list.

It leaves the Panthers having to rely on a pair of second-stringers to contain the Lions’ pass-catching duo of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. While that is expected to be a tough task for Carolina’s reserve corners, St. Brown and Williams could also be challenged going up against a new-look secondary without an ample amount of time for preparation.

"Obviously, you don't know how they feel about their backup corners,” St. Brown told reporters Thursday. “If they feel good, they'll probably continue to do the same, similar stuff. If not, maybe they'll mix some things up.

“But, I feel like we've been getting a lot of different looks from what we've seen on tape with a lot of the opponents that we've played this year. So, we're expecting one thing, but also you can expect the unexpected, too. So, we've got to be able to make adjustments in the game and things like that. But, I think the thing that goes with any game really, you got to make adjustments throughout the game.”

St. Brown is not coming off one of his stronger performances, either. In fact, a week ago against the Jets, he secured just four catches for 19 yards and a touchdown – by far, his lowest statistical output of the 2026 campaign.

With St. Brown's production curtailed, the Lions needed somebody to step up, and it happened to be their do-it-all lead back, Jahmyr Gibbs.

Gibbs delivered a standout performance in the Week 3 affair, recording 99 yards and a couple of touchdowns on the ground plus another 65 yards and a score as a pass-catcher.

Petzing & Co. have not been afraid to deploy Gibbs as a receiver this season, a sign of how valuable the fourth-year back is to the team's offense.

And per St. Brown, Gibbs has put in the time to hone his route-running and all-around receiving ability.

“Jahmyr is naturally gifted in certain areas. So, a lot of stuff that you'd have to tell certain guys, you don't have to tell him,” St. Brown said of the talented runner. “But, there's still an element of receiver he's never really played. It's like if you put me at running back, there's things I don't know. And he understands what he knows and doesn't know, and he'll ask me all those questions and he's a quick learner. You love to have that as a coach and being his teammate, it's easy to tell him to do this and he does it the next time. So, he's just a freak, man.”

With the injuries to the Panthers’ defensive backs room, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Lions have a big night offensively on Sunday. Drew Petzings's unit has performed at a high level so far this season, too, averaging 31 points a game through the first three weeks.

Yet, St. Brown is convinced the offense is still capable of more.

“I feel like we can still be a lot better as an offense,” the sixth-year receiver said. “We have so much more to improve on, which is awesome because we have put up a good amount of points the first three weeks. But, I feel like we can, we still have so much to get better at.

“Drew's done a great job obviously. We're all still learning things. We're all trying to get better each and every week, especially at this point in the season, you've got some games under your belt. You've got some tape to watch from other teams. So, it's going to be exciting these next few weeks.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google