The Lions can breathe a sigh of relief: Amon-Ra St. Brown will be just fine.
After briefly leaving last week's loss to the Seahawks with a toe injury and then missing practice Wednesday, St. Brown has been back at practice the past two days and said Friday he expects to play Sunday against the Falcons.
He also doesn't expect the injury to be a hindrance moving forward.
"Feels good," St. Brown said of the toe. "Just got bent up, but you can't hold a good brother down for too long. It was sore after the game -- really sore -- but it's been getting better every day. I'm excited, I'm happy, that it's nothing too serious."
The Lions' No. 1 receiver, St. Brown will wear a steel plate in his right cleat Sunday to protect the toe from further damage. He said he wore something similar in high school, "so I know what it feels like. It's nothing too crazy."
"As a player, you gotta have that pain tolerance and know," said St. Brown. "Obviously structurally it has to be right, but you gotta have that feeling you can push through it."
St. Brown confirmed the injury isn't turf toe, which is the best news the Lions could have hoped for. Turf toe can lead to long absences and sometimes require surgery. St. Brown said he "got lucky" to avoid it. The Lions would agree. Without him, they'd lose a huge part of their offense.
"I"ll be fine," said St. Brown. "I know we have a quick turnaround (next week), but after that I think I'll be good."
After Sunday's game, the Lions visit the Packers on Thursday Night Football in Week 4.
St. Brown played in all 17 games as a rookie. He missed one game last season and was limited in two others, first by an ankle injury and then by concussion protocol. The Lions went 0-3 in those games, which included their two worst offensive performances of the year in a 29-0 loss to the Patriots and a 24-6 loss to the Cowboys.
"I hate missing games," said St. Brown. "I gotta be there for my guys. I want to play every week. That's my goal."