Following their loss on Thanksgiving to the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions received some unfortunate news on star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who sustained a low ankle sprain that could reportedly keep him out for one to two weeks.
For the Lions, St. Brown’s timeline is less than ideal as they’re on a short week, playing against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. And not to mention, the Lions are sitting on the outside of the playoff race entering December.
If St. Brown can’t play, it could open up a big opportunity for rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa, who scored his third touchdown on Thanksgiving. However, based on the latest information from Lions head coach Dan Campbell, it's still unclear whether the star pass catcher will play, which could directly impact TeSlaa's playing time in Week 14.
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Campbell said on Costa and Jansen with Heather that the Lions won’t know about St. Brown’s availability until gameday or the day before.
Isaac TeSlaa’s Role Unclear with Uncertainty Surrounding Amon-Ra St. Brown
In one way, it's good to see Campbell leaving the door open for St. Brown to play on Thursday night, as this Lions’ offense is at their best when he’s on the field making plays in the short and immediate passing games.
However, for TeSlaa, this isn’t the best news as the Lions will likely have to prepare him for two different contingency plans. If Brown was already ruled out for this week’s game, Detroit could prep TeSlaa to take over the WR2 spot and hopefully have a sizable role in the passing game.
But with this uncertainty, the rookie wideout will just have to be ready for whatever. Since teams usually don’t practice on short weeks, the next 48 hours will be crucial for TeSlaa to soak up all the information as possible.
The Cowboys’ defense will try to prevent Jameson Williams from having a big-tie performance, if there’s no St. Brown, which means one-on-one opportunities should be available for TeSlaa that he’ll have to take advantage of.
The Lions don’t have a pass-catching threat at tight end with Sam LaPorta injured, and Detroit can't put all its eggs into the basket of Tom Kennedy, who surprisingly stepped up as the WR3 against the Packers.
Therefore, it will fall on TeSlaa's first-year shoulders after Lions fans have been clamoring for him to get more playing time. Even if Detroit doesn't have the clearest idea of St. Brown's outlook, it's obvious TeSlaa can't afford to fumble any opportunities — big or small — he may see this week.