When Lions punt return specialist Kalif Raymond departed Sunday’s win in Indianapolis with a foot injury, the next man up to field punts was All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. For a team already ravaged by injuries, seeing such a critical piece of the offense playing in that role caused some serious trepidation.
That worry proved valid, considering St. Brown appeared to suffer a minor knee injury on a punt return, one that kept him ruled out of Monday’s practice.
In his weekly radio spot with 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit, Lions head coach Dan Campbell indicated that St. Brown was the best option at the time. However, Campbell admitted the Lions will have a different punt returner for Thursday’s NFC North matchup in Ford Field against the Chicago Bears.
“Now that we’re in another week, we’re gonna have probably a different returner,” Campbell told the hosts. “And if we need Saint (St. Brown) in a critical then we’ll use him. But that was really why he was in there, because he’s sure-handed and we know he’ll get the job done.”
Detroit does have some intriguing options to replace Raymond, who could be out for some time with the foot injury. Cornerback Khalil Dorsey has return experience in both college and the NFL, though primarily running back kicks, not punts. Rookie RB Sione Vaki and vet RB Craig Reynolds each got ample reps in training camp as punt returners, too.
Update:
Campbell has since walked back his earlier comments. During his press conference on Tuesday, Campbell stated,
“Yeah, we are. I’m still trying to think about that because part of me says let’s just use (St. Brown) Saint again because he is the most reliable, so we may just do that. You know what, we’re going to do that. We’re going to do that.”