The Detroit Lions are hoping that star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown can play on Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys after suffering an ankle injury on Thanksgiving. The reported diagnosis for St. Brown’s injury is that he could be sidelined for 1-2 weeks.
On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell didn’t have an exact answer on St. Brown’s status for Thursday, as he said on Costa and Jansen with Heather that they won’t know anything about his availability until gameday or the day before.
That said, we might have an idea about St. Brown’s status for Week 14 after the Lions added a rookie wide receiver to the practice squad. Detroit announced that it signed former Arkansas wide receiver Andrew Armstrong and parted ways with offensive lineman Netane Muti.
Following the announcement of this practice squad addition, Colton Pouncy of The Athletic reported that St. Brown did not practice on Monday.
Lions Quickly Sign Practice Squad WR Andrew Armstrong to Start Week 14
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver played his college ball with Isaac TeSlaa last season at Arkansas. In his two years with the Razorbacks, Armstrong had 134 receptions for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns across 23 games.
Last year at Arkansas, Armstrong led the SEC in receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,140), which is not an easy feat considering the wide receiver talent. After the draft, Armstrong joined the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent and was cut at the end of the preseason.
Heading into Week 14, the Lions only have two other receivers on the practice squad in Jackson Meeks and Malik Cunningham, who could be called up if St. Brown can’t play.
Last week, we saw TeSlaa and Tom Kennedy see an uptick in snaps without St. Brown. And that could be the same situation for those guys and whoever else plays on Thursday. At the same time, Armstrong gives the Lions another option for practice this week.
The 6-foot-3 wideout isn’t the fastest guy, as he’s more of a possession receiver. However, he can be utilized in the underneath passing game and isn’t afraid to make catches in the middle of the field.
Armstrong isn’t the best route runner and could look to get stronger, as he has had issues with defenders bumping him off his routes. That said, for this predicament that the Lions are now in, he’s worth a flier for at least a week or two.