Notebook: Amon-Ra St. Brown Hates Packers Fans

Notes on Lions' position battles at safety, kicker.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. / Camren Clouthier, @Lions On SI

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown's popularity has entered another gear heading into the 2024 season.

This offseason, St. Brown was one of the stars of the Netflix series 'Receiver,' which showcased his journey through the 2023 NFL season. As a result, he has become a household name throughout the NFL fan base.

During a recent appearance on 'Hot Ones' with Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams, St. Brown was asked to either eat a hot wing or express his least-favorite NFL fans. Rather than take a bite of the wing, he revealed his disdain for the fans of two NFL teams.

"That is a layup. I'm gonna give two," St. Brown said. "I hate the Packers fans, just 'cause it's Green Bay. But I think some of the worst fans is the Falcons. We played them my rookie year, no one was there. 'Cause I hate Green Bay. They have good fans for the team, but I hate them."

Madden ratings for receivers, safeties revealed

With the latest edition of the 'Madden' video game franchise set to release Aug. 16, the ratings of players in the game are beginning to be revealed.

As is tradition, EA Sports is rolling out the ratings for players at launch in segments. On Monday, the wide receivers and safeties were the players to have their attributes revealed.

The Detroit Lions were headlined by Amon-Ra St. Brown, who will be a 95 overall at launch. He is tied for the fourth-highest rated player at the position. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the highest-rated wide receiver as a 99 overall.

Here are the ratings for Lions' wide receivers and safeties, as released Monday.

Amon-Ra St. Brown -- 95
Brian Branch -- 85
Jameson Williams -- 79
Kerby Joseph -- 77
Donovan Peoples-Jones -- 76
Kalif Raymond -- 76
Ifeatu Melifonwu -- 75
Tre'Quan Smith -- 70
Tom Kennedy -- 69
Isaiah Williams -- 67
Antoine Green -- 66
Daurice Fountain -- 65
Brandon Joseph -- 64
C.J. Moore -- 64
Maurice Alexander -- 63

Safety competition

The Lions have plans to move Brian Branch to safety once he is cleared to fully participate. The move comes as a result of desire to utilize him in this role as well as additions giving the defense more flexibility.

When Branch returns, the Lions will evaluate him in the safety role. Yet, Dan Campbell left the door open to potentially returning him to the nickel position if necessary. Being so early in camp, the Lions are leaving their options open.

As the Alabama product has been sidelined early in camp, Emmanuel Moseley and Amik Robertson have been among the players to take reps at nickel position.

If the newcomers shake out and a player claims the nickel spot, Campbell said Branch will compete with Ifeatu Melifonwu at the safety position opposite Kerby Joseph.

“There again, nothing is set in stone yet. Some of that is, we really feel like the safety position could be really good for Branch," Campbell said. "We certainly know he can play nickel, but it’s one of those, is that the best thing for him and for us? Now, we sort this whole thing out and Iffy is doing what he’s doing and he’s continuing to grow and we don’t have a nickel that comes to the forefront, well it could very easily be Iffy’s your safety and Branch goes back to the nickel. So we’ve got a lot of moving parts here. But right now, it really is, when Branch gets back and is ready to go, which he’s in a good place, he’s coming, his rehab is going well, he’s out there in walkthrough, then you’re talking about a competition between those two at the safety position.” 

Adding kicker 'a possibility'

Detroit's kicking competition was thrown a wrench when incumbent competitor Michael Badgley suffered a season-ending injury on the second day of training camp. As he was placed on injured reserve, Jake Bates is currently the only kicker on roster.

General manager Brad Holmes explained in the offseason that he hoped to bring in competition for Badgley, which happened in the form of Bates. However, the Lions currently have yet to add another player to compete with Bates.

During an appearance on Lions' flagship radio Monday, Holmes explained that Bates is currently getting valuable opportunities and that the team is eager to evaluate him.

The Lions worked out four kickers last week, but have made no move. A kicker addition could still come at some point during camp.

“We were excited to be able to add Bates. Obviously it was unfortunate with Badge, we have a lot of trust in Badge and were excited for that competition," Holmes said. "So feel really, really bad for him. As of right now, Bates, he’s getting a lot of valuable reps that he’s gonna need. He’s been in the UFL and obviously he has not had a field goal kicking history going back to college, he’s been more kickoff specialist, so just now he’s gotten an opportunity to get a lot more reps throughout this preseason and it’s a possibility that we might add more competition there at some point. But we’re just excited to see Bates and his big leg.”