Detroit Lions Amon-Ra St. Brown hopes to get the last laugh against Jourdan Lewis

More than six months later, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s memories of the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys in December are still vivid. It wasn’t just the controversial decision that ruined a potentially game-winning 2-point conversion at the bizarre – and bitter – end. There were also his exciting interactions with Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, the former Michigan football star.

“He was talking crazy,” St. Brown said on “The Pivot Podcast,” published in July. “Some of them I’ve never heard before.”

He could face all of that again on Sunday when he and Lewis face off again at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The St. Brown-Lewis dispute is one of the exciting subplots in this latest matchup between the Lions and Cowboys, one of the most intriguing of Week 6 in the NFL.

Given the opportunity to defuse his personal conflict with St. Brown, Lewis instead chose to ratchet up the tension when he spoke to local media in Dallas earlier this week.

“I just remember him trying to get me out on a podcast,” Lewis told reporters. “We will be playing against each other, so we will see each other and have a game together. We’ll see what’s real and what’s not.

Consider those combative words — the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that can motivate St. Brown, who prefers to let his play speak for itself.

More: The Detroit Tigers’ magical playoff run revives what-if questions about the Detroit Lions’ 2022 season

“Yeah, normally you shouldn’t get too involved in it,” he said Thursday. “Maybe I say something back, but overall it fires me up and gets me going. So, I love it.”

In the last meeting with the Cowboys, St. Brown collected six receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown. According to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted twice in the game against Lewis. St. Brown caught one of those passes for an 11-yard score late in regulation. Lewis, a Detroit Cass Tech graduate, intervened, sparking a breakup.

“He’s a good player,” St. Brown said.

He’s also something of an instigator.

“There are people who talk a lot,” Lions fullback Jameson Williams said after a question was asked about Lewis on Thursday. “You just have to deal with it the way we deal with it. Go out and play a few games and maybe it will stop.”

But that was never the case with George Pickens last Sunday. After Lewis and his Cowboys teammates held Pittsburgh’s No. 1 receiver to seven catches for 26 yards in a 20-17 win, he ran toward Pickens at the end of the game and appeared to taunt him. Pickens then lashed out in frustration and grabbed Lewis by the facemask with such force that he threw him to the ground. That prompted Lewis to take a parting shot as he headed toward the locker room.

“Pittsburgh needs a receiver,” Lewis said. “George Pickens is weak.”

Lewis can’t use the same adjective to describe St. Brown, a two-time Pro Bowler who has developed into one of the league’s best slot receivers.

Conventional wisdom holds that St. Brown’s inspiring rise from 2021 fourth-round pick to NFL star would help insulate him from the abuse of others in the heat of the moment.

“Because I feel like in this league, as you get older, you start to respect the players more and more and what they do and the work that we have to do every week,” St. Brown said.

But in December, St. Brown found out the hard way that wasn’t the case when he faced Lewis, the Cowboys’ feisty provocateur.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BALL: Detroit Lions’ Aaron Glenn: Penalties are ‘a double-edged sword’ for aggressive CBs

That’s how it works, said St. Brown.

Yes, Williams repeated, it is what is. But as he explained, they won’t take the bait if Lewis tries to sideline them with his trash talk.

“We don’t really trip on people trying to take you out of the game,” Williams said. “I feel like I can speak for the guys in the locker room when I say that.”

That includes St. Brown, a receiver who usually has the last laugh after being insulted.

Contact Rainer Sabin at [email protected]. Follow him @RainerSabin.

Recent Posts