Amon-Ra St. Brown: Lions have their edge back for 2026 season

FOX 2 - Last season's 9-8 Detroit Lions finish didn't sit well with fans, staff and least of all, the players.

Big picture view:

The Lions enter 2026 with a chip on their shoulder, with Amon Ra St. Brown saying they are motivated to get back to the playoffs.

The road back to the playoffs starts with the 2026 preseason opener Thursday against the Bengals on FOX 2 as well as on the FOX Local App. Find out more, here.

St. Brown spoke with FOX 2 on Community Partner Day practice at the Allen Park Meijer Performance Facility, sharing his thoughts on the new season.

St. Brown on being underdogs again

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"I would say I feel like we're a bit more motivated. I feel we have that edge. I'm not saying we ever lost it, but I feel it's back," he said. "And we felt like last year, maybe we weren't the underdogs as much as we wanted to be. We feel like, we're back in that spot."

St. Brown says the rest of the league and the pundits might be looking past the one-time 2024 division champs — and that's fine with them.

"No one's really talking about us," he said. "But we're in training camp. Dog days are summer for us. It's going great. Camp is going great, the competition is there. Guys want to be great. And I think we've got the right group of guys to hopefully make some splashes here."

When it comes to bouncing back - whether as a team, or individually, from a bad play or bad game, St. Brown explained his mental approach.

"One of my coaches back at USC, Coach Keary Colbert, he always told us, 'So what, now what?'" he said. "You know, move on, the play is going to happen. The next play, the most important play, is the next play. Dan (Campbell) talks about that all the time."

Lions play in Germany

What's next:

This season, the St. Brown and Lions head to Munich, Germany to play the New England Patriots on Nov. 15.

The game has special meaning for St. Brown, who is half-German with his mother an immigrant from Leverkusen.

"I'm super excited. I think it's going to be great for us, great for us as a team, the NFL as a whole," he said. "I feel like me being half-German, I feel like it's my duty to kind of grow the game in Germany (and) I feel this is the first step towards it.

"So I've seen the games there, the fans are going to be amazing, I already know that. But I'm just happy to play football in Germany, have a lot of family around, and have my teammates with me."

In addition to being a Pro Bowl receiver and co-host with his brother, former player Equanimeous St. Brown of the hit "St. Brown Podcast," Amon-Ra also is in involved with giving back.

The St. Brown Foundation

What you can do:

The St. Brown Foundation was started by Amon-Ra and his brothers a year and a half ago. Its mission helps empower students with focuses on literacy, global experiences and health & wellness.

"At the end of the day, not everyone's going to be a professional athlete and not everyone is gonna make it to college," he said. "School is something everyone goes to, that everyone can use and can further them in life. So we want to you know make sure that kids understand how important school is, not just you know, sports."

Teaching young people the importance of having a good work ethic and putting in time to get better, is key, he said.

"A lot of people have talent in in this world, in this league, and everywhere," St. Brown said. "But at the end of day man, you've got to put the work in. Whether it's in sports, whether in school. You want to become a doctor, a pilot? Whatever you want to be in life. You've got to put in the work. We're trying to help kids understand that it's not always just about sports."

To learn more, go to the stbrownfoundation.org

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