Dan Campbell admits it was hard to pull Amon-Ra St. Brown from the Lions' lineup ahead of their Week 5 win over the Panthers. Detroit's leading receiver would have played through the pain of his abdomen injury had the coaches let him.
"It’s not easy to put Saint down, as you could imagine," Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "That is not something that he really wants to hear, but it was the right thing to do."
The Lions were just fine without him, piling up seven touchdowns in their 42-24 win. Jared Goff had his best game of the season while completing passes to eight different players. And the week of rest did St. Brown some good: the Lions expect to have him back on the field Sunday against the Buccaneers in a clash of two first-place teams in the NFC.
"I feel pretty good about the possibility of him playing this week," Campbell said. "It's certainly more than questionable, closer to probable. We’ll see how this week goes."
The Lions are also hoping for the returns of running back Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) and defensive back Brian Branch (ankle), but their odds of playing Sunday, as of Tuesday morning, weren't as clear.