Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown returns to practice in limited fashion with knee injury appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Detroit Lions (8-7) are wounded entering the holiday season, but they can still make the best out of Christmas in a must-win game versus the Minnesota Vikings (7-8). They already fell to their NFC North rival at home back in November and will now need to prevail inside U.S. Bank Stadium if they have any hopes of making the playoffs this season. A healthy Amon-Ra St. Brown would make for a very nice gift.

Advertisement

Fortunately, the two-time All-Pro wide receiver is trending in the right direction. He was a limited practice participant on Tuesday after being inactive the day before due to a knee injury, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. St. Brown is about to eclipse 100 receptions and 1,200 receiving yards for a third consecutive campaign. His importance to the Lions’ offense is impossible to overstate.

He will look to get in a full session on Wednesday, but everyone understands what is on the line. The 2021 fourth-round draft pick is surely prepared to compete at less than 100 percent if necessary. He and his teammates should be especially dialed-in on Thursday night. Yes, dwindling playoff prospects are motivation enough, but Detroit is probably still seething over its controversial loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Lions were called for two offensive pass interference penalties in the final 25 seconds. There is little debate surrounding St. Brown’s game-ending infraction, but the flag that was charged to Isaac TeSlaa is eliciting copious anger throughout the city. There is no time to dwell on the past, however.

Dan Campbell’s squad must take out all its frustrations on Minnesota. Assuming he is good go on Christmas Day, Amon-Ra St. Brown will be tasked with setting the tone against a defense that allows only 169.2 passing yards per game (third-best in NFL). Lions-Vikings kicks off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Netflix.

Related: Lions-Vikings Fantasy Football Week 17 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em

Related: NFL, Lions not taking action against fan in DK Metcalf altercation