Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown unsure if he’ll be able to play through ankle sprain

ALLEN PARK -- Amon-Ra St. Brown never missed a game at USC. He still hasn’t missed a game in Detroit.

And he still doesn’t know whether that streak will hold on Sunday when the Lions host the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field.

“I’m not sure,” St. Brown said in the locker room on Wednesday.

The budding star sprained his ankle when cornerback Patrick Peterson fell on him in the loss against Minnesota over the weekend. He returned to the sideline for a medical evaluation, then got another tape job and returned to the game. St. Brown gutted out 57 offensive snaps in all while dealing with pain in the ankle, especially when he tried to work his breaks -- usually the strength of his game, and how he gets so open.

He still managed to the team with six catches and had 73 receiving yards overall, 30 of which came on a huge fourth-and-5 play that led to Detroit’s first touchdown. A solid day for him, although it did snap a streak of eight straight games with at least eight catches, an NFL record, and a streak of six straight games with a touchdown catch, a club record.

“It definitely was hurting out there on Sunday,” St. Brown said. “Never really dealt with a sprained ankle, but when I was cutting and stuff, it definitely hurt. But I just pushed through. The adrenaline helped a bit, but had to push through that game.”

The ankle has stiffened since the game, and St. Brown was held out of practice on Wednesday. His status for the Seahawks game is very much in question, and his loss would be felt. He ranks fourth in the league in catches and ninth in receiving yards, and has accounted for more yards than anyone else in Detroit. So much of this offense now flows through him, especially on third and fourth down, as well as in the red zone.

St. Brown is yet another injury that is plaguing Detroit, which was without 10 players at practice on Wednesday, six of whom start on offense. Receiver Josh Reynolds (ankle), running back D’Andre Swift (ankle/shoulder), tight end T.J. Hockenson (foot), center Frank Ragnow (foot) and guard Jonah Jackson (finger) also did not practice, while receiver D.J. Chark (ankle) was limited.

That left Detroit without any healthy starting receivers, or skill players for that matter. Backup running back Jamaal Williams already plays a large role anyway and has been productive this season -- his four rushing touchdowns lead the league -- while others like receivers Quintez Cephus and Kalif Raymond almost certainly will have to shoulder larger roles this week because of the injuries.

“That’s why we built the room the way we’re built,” receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El said. “Those guys can go in and fill those spots. Q can come in and play the Z or the X. Leaf can come in and really give us speed at the Z and really at the F receiver position. If we need to, we can bring Tom (Kennedy) up. We’ve got some guys that can go in and fill those roles. I think the biggest thing that changes is some of the run blocking we were just talking about. Those guys don’t do some of that stuff. Although you do see guys blocking in the run game, they don’t do some of going up and catching a linebacker, catching a safety from the outside. Most of them do some of that stuff from the outside unless it’s Saint playing. Other than that, those guys can go it, get it done, hold it down if those other guys can’t go.”