Only one wide receiver in the NFC has more catches than Amon-Ra St. Brown this season. Only two have more yards. Only three have more touchdowns. And Amon-Ra St. Brown was left off the NFC Pro Bowl roster.
"I was hot," St. Brown said Thursday. "The receivers that got picked are all great players, but I was hot."
As he should've been. The NFC's only receiver with better numbers than St. Brown is CeeDee Lamb of the Cowboys, who has an NFL-leading 122 catches for an NFC-leading 1,651 yards and 12 touchdowns. No one will argue that Lamb deserved to be named a Pro Bowl starter.
But St. Brown's numbers are equal to or better than the other three receivers selected. That includes the other starter A.J. Brown, who has 105 catches for 1,447 yards and seven touchdowns. St. Brown checks in with 112 catches for 1,371 yards and nine touchdowns.
St. Brown, who was named a first alternate at receiver, was also beaten out by rookie Puka Nacua of the Rams who has 101 catches for 1,445 yards and five touchdowns, and Mike Evans of the Bucs who has 76 catches for 1,233 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Asked if the snub angered him like his infamous slide in the draft after which he memorized the names of all 16 wide receivers taken before him, St. Brown said, "I guess. I mean, I was pissed."
"I guess I didn’t do enough during the season, so I gotta go harder," he said.
"I don't know if he needs any more motivation, gee whiz," Lions receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said Friday. "But that is just fuel to the fire. He’s going to get after it."