The 2025 season was a disappointing one for the Detroit Lions. The Lions sunk back to 9-8, missed the playoffs and finished in the NFC North cellar.
That sting of disappointment hasn’t been forgotten by one of the team’s biggest stars.
As he enters his age 26 and sixth NFL season, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught up with ESPN’s Eric Woodyard during voluntary offseason workouts and ahead of OTAs at the end of this month.
“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. 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,” St. Brown told ESPN.
Though last season was a disappointing season collectively, St. Brown was still one of the NFL’s best receivers. The 6-foot, 202-pound receiver hauled in 117 passes for 1,401 yards, which ranked fifth in the league. St. Brown had 11 touchdown grabs last season.
With his 2025 numbers, St. Brown became the fourth player in NFL history to top 100 receptions and 10 touchdown receptions in three straight seasons.
This time last year, St. Brown was working his way back from an offseason knee surgery to clean some things up. The USC alum is happy to have a healthy offseason with the Lions.
“I didn’t really have an offseason the year before because I came off surgery, so to have a healthy offseason was nice for me. 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,” St. Brown said.
There’s been chatter about whether or not the Lions’ championship window is still open entering 2026. St. Brown is confident that Detroit has what it needs to return to Super Bowl contention.
“I feel like our whole nucleus is still with us. A lot of our best players are still with us and have been with us, so I feel like when you’ve got the players that we have, I can go down the list of the guys—offensively, defensively and special teams… Jack Fox, Jake Bates. We’ve got a bunch of guys on our team, so when you’ve got the nucleus that we have, I think you always have a shot at the big one. So, we’ve just got to put it together.
“We’ve got some free agents, signed some good guys, drafted some good guys so we’ve got the coaches,” he said. “We’ve got to put the work in. OTAs, training camp, end of season, it’s going to be tough things that happen throughout the season, but if you can overcome those, I think we’ll be fine.”
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown ‘motivated as ever’
Reporting by Josh Helmer, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
