Nolan Bianchi and Richard Silva preview Lions’ game against the Los Angeles Rams
The visiting Lions are 5.5-point underdogs against the L.A. Rams on Sunday.
Allen Park — A whole week after turning in a dazzling performance on a banged-up ankle, Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said the injury is completely behind him as Detroit gets ready to take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
“It was a little sore after the game, but it wasn’t too bad, and it’s getting better every day, so that’s good,” said St. Brown, who has been present at both practices this week. “I feel like, hopefully, it’s behind me now.”
Coaches and players — in particular, receivers coach and assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery — were completely unsure of whether St. Brown would play against the Cowboys. St. Brown was removed from the team’s Thanksgiving Day loss to Green Bay in the first quarter, and Lions coach Dan Campbell initially expected St. Brown to miss a week or two.
It was a stressful week of game planning, unsure whether Jared Goff’s most trusted target would be available. Montgomery said he hopped on FaceTime with St. Brown on Tuesday night to go over some plans, and after a while, Montgomery realized that St. Brown was out to dinner with his girlfriend.
“I felt bad. He kind of had the phone close to his face so I couldn’t see him. Then he kind of backed up a little bit, then I realized (and said), ‘Oh, my God. I’m coaching this guy at dinner,'” Montgomery said. “We went through the plan and how it may change, him moving positions, other guys moving positions. That’s the other piece to it, the other layers to it, is when he does come back into the fold, now you’ve got to kind of move people around. Tuesday and Wednesday were some difficult days.
Since the Lions only held walkthroughs before their loss to the Packers, it had been multiple weeks since St. Brown had practiced. He said he was exhausted in the Cowboys game but still turned in a six-catch, 92-yard performance.
“I was basically off for like two weeks of not practicing, so I was a little tired, throughout the game,” St. Brown said. “But the hardest part was probably mentally, being able to know the plays. We had different personnel (packages) in, because we didn’t know if I was gonna play or not, so different spots that I was in, different plays, and just not being able to rep it, I think, was the hardest part.”
Practice attendance
The Lions’ linebacking unit was back at full strength at Thursday’s practice, three days before taking on the Rams.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone returned after missing Wednesday’s practice with an illness.
The Lions were, however, missing All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph after he was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday. Joseph has missed the last seven games with a knee injury, and with the team now missing safety Brian Branch (Achilles), Joseph’s status is all the more critical.
Offensive tackle Taylor Decker missed practice with a shoulder injury for the second day in a row. Decker has missed many practices this season as he deals with a lingering shoulder injury that required offseason surgery.
Those listed as limited participants during Thursday’s sessions were offensive linemen Kayode Awosika (foot) and Christian Mahogany (fibula), receiver Kalif Raymond (ankle), tight end Shane Zylstra (knee), running back Sione Vaki (thumb) and safety Thomas Harper (concussion).
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
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