Amon-Ra St. Brown will likely be a game-night decision against the Cowboys. The Lions' star wide receiver left last week's loss to the Packers with an ankle injury and doesn't yet know whether he'll be able to suit up Thursday night against Dallas.
"I’m not sure right now, if I’m being honest. It’s still up in the air," St. Brown said Tuesday after sitting out practice as part of his recovery. "I’m going to try to be out there for the guys, for my teammates, but I couldn’t answer that question right now."
St. Brown said the injury is similar to the ankle sprain he suffered against the Vikings early in the 2022 season that cost him the next week's game, except, in that case, St. Brown was able to return to the game in which the injury happened. He left last week's game early in the first quarter and was done for the day.
Within 10 minutes of limping off the field, St. Brown said he knew he wouldn't be able to return, "because I’ve had ankle sprains before and I was able to come back in the game, but this one, the pain was just too much."
"I just couldn’t even really put pressure on the ankle," he said.
For St. Brown, watching his teammates lose to a division rival without him was brutal.
"I don’t know how many games I've watched on the sideline in Detroit or not been on the field. It’s tough. I felt the guys through the screen, I felt like I let them down by not being out there. But they played their hearts out, which was amazing to watch," he said.
St. Brown did say the ankle is improving by the day. He'd probably be able to go if the Lions were playing Sunday, but the decision will likely come down to the active/inactive deadline 90 minutes before kickoff Thursday night.
"Each day is so crucial at this point," said St. Brown.
The biggest question for St. Brown is whether he's capable of making sudden changes in direction. Straight-line speed is the least of his concerns.
"It’s, can I stop, can I cut, can I do all the little movements that you don’t even think about when you’re out there? That’s the biggest thing, just making sure I can do those," he said.
It's close to a must-win game for the Lions, who are outside the playoffs looking in and trying to fend off the charging Cowboys in the wild card race. St. Brown called it "our biggest game of the year," not that it will influence his decision to play or not play.
"If you’re asking me, no. Maybe if you ask the coaches, trainers, they would have a different answer. For me, I want to play every game. That’s my mindset every year. I don’t want to miss any games. Your availability is you best ability, at the end of the day. For me, being out there is the most important thing."
The Lions are 3-4 since their 4-1 start, and desperate for a victory Thursday night after last week's loss to the Packers. Asked if one win could get them back on track, St. Brown said, "I don’t know if one win is the answer, because we’ve been winning-losing, winning-losing, for I don’t know how many weeks it’s been."
"So, one win I don’t think will be the answer. Would it help? Definitely. But we gotta stack wins," he said. "That’s the biggest thing, especially at this point in the season. For us right now, the Cowboys game is the most important, so we gotta take care of this first. But say we do take care of this game, we gotta be able to continue to build off what we did the week prior and not take steps backward."