Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: 'I do what I do and you've still got to stop it'
Amon-Ra St. Brown used the disappointment of falling to the fourth round of last year's NFL draft as motivation for his big rookie season. This year, the Detroit Lions wide receiver is drawing his inspiration from something new.
St. Brown said Friday he "definitely" is motivated by people who doubt he can repeat his rookie-year production and not worried about defenses designed to limit his touches in Year 2.
“I mean, they still got to stop us, you know what I mean?" St. Brown said after Day 3 of Lions training camp. "They still got to stop it, and that’s why we got (offensive coordinator Ben Johnson). He’s going to put us in the right position to make plays, put the players in the right position. That’s why we have coaches, and, at the end of the day, I do what I do and you’ve still got to stop it."
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St. Brown led the Lions with 90 catches for 912 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie.
He got off to a modest start, catching six passes for 43 yards in his first three games, but was one of the NFL's most productive receivers after Thanksgiving.
In the final six weeks, St. Brown caught 51 passes for 560 yards and had at least eight receptions in every game.
"I had a chip on my shoulder coming into this league and it’s not going nowhere for me," St. Brown said. "The goal of this league is to be consistent, like I said earlier, last year. So for me proving that I can do what I did last year and even more is what’s keeping me going right now."
Lions coach Dan Campbell said St. Brown made the type of jump in-season that most players make between their first and second NFL seasons.
This year, St. Brown said his goal is to deliver more consistent production, starting in Week 1, and to improve in areas such as blocking and not missing assignments.
"I do see continued growth," Campbell said. "Now, I can’t put that in production either as far as, ‘Hey, man, he’s going to get 10 catches every game this year.’ I think the hope is that we’ve got enough weapons and enough arsenal here that we’re able to spread this around and the production gets spread out even.
"But he’ll be steady and consistent and whenever you need him, you know you got him and he’s going to make the plays for you. So we’ll see, but even if he didn’t have that kind of production again, I think I’m hoping if he doesn’t, that’s because we’ve got people around him, that are helping.”
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Fight club
The Lions will hold their first padded practice of training camp Monday. Last year, St. Brown got into a skirmish with fellow rookie Ifeatu Melifonwu on the first day with pads. The two had a physical exchange during a special teams drill, and Melifonwu took a swing at his draft classmate.
St. Brown said there's a good chance fans who attend Monday's practice will see another skirmish, though he said he doubts he'll be involved.
"Some guy asked, one of the players goes, 'How many fights you think are going to break out?' " St. Brown said. "I said two. My plus-or-minus is two, so we’ll see. I don’t think I will get in any fights, but I’m not a punk now, so if they try me, I’m going to have to do something, but I don’t think it’ll happen with me this year — unless it happens. So we’ll see."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown: I'll show last year wasn't a fluke
