NOVEMBER 28, 7:00pm: Confirming speculation over the last 24 hours, MRI and other medical tests show a low ankle sprain for St. Brown with no structural damage, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. This is mostly good news, as it means a quick return for the 26-year-old. The injury is still depicted as a one- to two-week ailment, but with so much to play for at this point in the season, it’s thought that St. Brown will push hard to get back on the field for his team.
NOVEMBER 28, 9:46am: St. Brown is believed to be dealing with a low ankle sprain, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports. That points further in direction of only a short-term absence, and Pelissero adds to little surprise an IR stint is not expected in this case. The Lions will only play one game between now and December 14.
NOVEMBER 27: The Lions have persevered through several injuries throughout the season to remain in the thick of the playoff race. But currently sitting outside of the postseason with only five games remaining, Detroit has an uphill battle on its hands. That battle will be made a bit more difficult as the Lions could be without leading wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for the next two games. 
St. Brown was knocked out of today’s game against the Packers when left guard Kayode Awosika rolled up on his ankle from behind while the receiver was blocking. St. Brown was able to limp off the field, but he went straight to the locker room and was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game. Without a diagnosis just yet, head coach Dan Campbell informed the media of the situation.
“I don’t feel like this is long, long-term, so that’s the good news,” Campbell said (per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “But that doesn’t mean it won’t be here for — it could be a week or two, maybe, if we’re lucky.”
Working against the Lions is the fact that, unlike every other team playing on Thanksgiving Day, Detroit and Dallas don’t get a 10-day rest as they play each other for Thursday Night Football next week. The Lions will get a 10-day rest the following week, though, before they head out for a tough trip to Los Angeles.
The Lions have already lost star tight end Sam LaPorta for, likely, the rest of the season, and wide receiver Kalif Raymond (ankle) and tight end Brock Wright (neck) were ruled out for today’s game. Without St. Brown on the field, Jameson Williams took over the WR1 role and put up big numbers as Jared Goff‘s main weapon. Rotational receiver Isaac TeSlaa and practice squad elevation Tom Kennedy were asked to step up into complimentary roles and delivered a combined six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.
If the Lions are going to be without St. Brown for two weeks, they may look to add a body or two. Raymond may be able to play next week, and the team also has Georgia seventh-round rookie Dominic Lovett on the 53-man roster, but Lovett has mostly been a special teamer. In addition to Kennedy, Detroit also rosters Malik Cunningham and undrafted rookie Jackson Meeks on the practice squad.
Whatever route they choose, the Lions have a tough road ahead of them. Depending on the results of the Bears’ trip to Philadelphia tomorrow night, the Detroit could be as many as two games behind the current division-leader. They already are essentially two games behind the second-place Packers, since Green Bay swept the season series and would win a one-on-one tiebreaker. They would need some help to move into a Wild Card spot, as well. And that doesn’t mention the fact that the Lions have two current playoff teams remaining on the schedule, and a Week 17 trip to Minnesota is the only time they’ll see a sub-.500 team for the rest of the year.
The schedule ahead is hard enough by itself for the Lions. Opening up this difficult closing stretch without their top receiving weapon will make the road that much steeper. St. Brown will likely have some testing done in the coming days to determine the severity of his injury and give the team an idea of just how long they’ll be without him.
