Amon-Ra St Brown Sends Strong Message Ahead of Lions Season

After achieving the No. 1 seed in the NFC and nearly reaching the conference championship game in the 2024 playoffs, the Detroit Lions had an underwhelming follow-up season, going 9-8 and finishing last in the NFC North without a playoff berth.

Instead, a team they defeated twice last season, the Chicago Bears, leaped forward, winning the division and nearly getting to that NFC Championship Game.

Amon-Ra St. Brown recently said the Lions are coming off a “disappointing season,” but he is excited for the opportunity to improve upon that.

“I’ve been excited to get back to work. I feel like last year, we had a disappointing season as a team. That’s how we feel internally. So, I’ve just been excited to get back to work,” St. Brown said.

“I’ve been motivated as ever. I feel like I’m motivated every year, but this year, I feel like it was a little different,” he told ESPN.

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St. Brown didn’t get a full offseason after the 2024 NFL season due to having a necessary, minor knee surgery to “clean some stuff up.”

He indicated that having the benefit of a full, healthy offseason has been nice this time around and that there’s excitement all around among him and his teammates to get to work.

“Just training and getting back to work, getting back to the grind and now being back in Detroit, back with the guys, OTAs starting up. Practices about to start up. We’re all excited,” he told ESPN.

The Lions will begin their offseason team activities closer to the end of the month, and then have their voluntary minicamp on June 16-17.

The four-time Pro Bowler tallied 117 catches for 1,401 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns last season, despite the Lions’ disappointing record and finish.

And the team made key offseason moves, including signing Cade Mays to a three-year, $25 million deal to replace veteran Frank Rangnow, who retired after last season.

They also traded David Montgomery, then signed former Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco, to bring help to their backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs.

In addition, they hired former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing as their new OC, giving renewed hope for the direction of play-calling.

At many sports books, the Lions rank amongst the top 10 when it comes to odds-on-favorites to win the Super Bowl, so they might be a team to watch out for in the coming season.

And if they move up amongst those favorites, St. Brown is likely to be a big part of the offense, driving their success.

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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 7:30 PM.