Amon-Ra St. Brown left Detroit in January bracing for bad news.
St. Brown saw Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson briefly in the hallway of the team’s Allen Park practice facility after he finished his end-of-season exit interview with receivers coach Antwaan Randle El. He dapped up Johnson just before the Lions’ first-year play-caller ducked into a meeting, with a promise to talk to Johnson again soon, then flew back to California only to find out Johnson was a hot commodity on the head coaching circuit.
Johnson had virtual interviews with the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers a few days later, and was widely considered a front-runner for the Carolina job when he decided to put his head coaching pursuit on hold and return to Detroit for a second season as coordinator.
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St. Brown learned Johnson was staying in Detroit when news broke on Twitter, then got confirmation in a text from Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
“Once Jared texted me, I was like, ‘OK, it’s probably official,’ so then I called him,” St. Brown told the Free Press on Thursday. “We just talked. He told me he was excited to come back, I told him I was excited he was coming back. And we just talked about life, family, whatever it was and how we’re ready to take that next step next year.”
Johnson’s return, and what it means for St. Brown and the rest of the offense, is one of the biggest reasons almost everyone expects the Lions to take another step forward into contention in 2023.
The Lions won eight of their final 10 games last season to finish 9-8 and just miss the playoffs, but they beat the Green Bay Packers in Week 18 at Lambeau Field and are the early favorites to win the NFC North this fall.
As they get ready to report for the start of voluntary offseason workouts Monday, the Lions are one of the buzziest teams in the NFL, and St. Brown said that’s not just coming from inside the building or talking heads on TV.
“I talk to other players, they told me like, ‘Man, you guys were rolling towards the end. We did not want to play you in the playoffs,’” St. Brown said of conversations he had with players from the San Francisco 49ers at the Pro Bowl and the Los Angeles Chargers during offseason training. “So teams know now. We’re not no walk-over team now. I think that’s just going to make it tougher for us this season, but it’s just going to make it more fun because I feel like teams sometimes in the past, my rookie year, they’d come into our stadium thinking it was just going to be an easy game for them they’re going to go win. And maybe that was the case, maybe it wasn’t. I know it wasn’t my rookie year against the Cardinals, that was for sure. I feel like that was a crazy game for them.
“But I feel like moving forward for us, we got to know that teams are going to be on their A-game when they play us, so we’ll be ready for it.”
Last season, the Lions had one of the NFL’s most dangerous offenses, a unit that propped up their young and figuring-it-out defense most of the year, and St. Brown said expectations will be even higher in 2023.
Goff, entering his third season in Detroit, is coming off one of the best seasons of his career having completed 65% of his passes with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He had one turnover and no interceptions in the Lions’ final five games and already has been back at work throwing with his receivers this offseason.
St. Brown said he and Goff have worked out together several times already this spring, and they were joined by a handful of other Lions including Jameson Williams, Tom Kennedy and Kalif Raymond for a workout last month in California.
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The Lions also return most of an offensive line that ranks among the league’s best, and added running back David Montgomery in free agency to replace leading rusher Jamaal Williams.
“We had a pretty decent offense last year,” St. Brown said. “Obviously, you want to be No. 1 in every category, so I think that’s what we’re striving for as an offense. Obviously, No. 1 in total yards per game, total scoring offense, we want to be No. 1 in all those categories. Not turning the ball over. I think we did a pretty good job of that last season, but you can always improve. So I think honestly, I think if you ask Ben, his goal would be to be No. 1 in all categories and that’s my goal, too. I think that’s everyone’s goal on offense because we know we can do it.”
St. Brown set career-highs with 106 catches, 1,161 yards and six receiving touchdowns last season, when he made his first Pro Bowl as an alternate.
He appears primed for an even bigger season this fall, with a second year of seasoning under his belt and a healthy Williams ticketed for a bigger role and capable of drawing extra attention with his deep speed on the outside.
The Lions’ second first-round pick last season, Williams had more drops (three) than catches (one) as a rookie, but played in only six games as he rehabbed from the torn ACL he suffered last January in his final game at Alabama.
“I can’t wait to see Jamo fully getting a whole offseason under his belt, being able to work with all of us,” St. Brown said. “I can’t wait to see what he does. I’ve seen it in practice. I know what he can do. It’s just a matter of everything just lining up. He came off that knee, threw him in toward the end of the season, so just him getting a whole offseason under his belt, being able to work out, train how he’s used to training. I think the sky’s the limit for him. I can’t wait to see what he does. I know he’s for sure going to stretch that defense so hopefully underneath routes will be much more open, but I can’t wait to see what he does on the field.”
St. Brown said making the Pro Bowl won’t change who he is, on or off the field.
He still carries a sizable chip on his shoulder from being a fourth-round pick in 2021, he has stayed diligent this offseason to his workout plan and he said he plans to take on more of a leadership role to help the Lions win more games.
“I feel like for me, like moving forward, obviously I have my personal goals but what I really want to do this year is I just, I know we won a few games last year, we finished pretty strong, but man, I want to go to the playoffs bad,” St. Brown said. “I feel like Detroit as a city, they want it so bad. I feel like as a team we want it bad. I feel like we got the guys to do it, so I’m just excited to start winning games consistently, week in and week out.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.