ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Detroit Lions players Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and D.J. Reader shared insights on their recent performances, team resilience, and a controversial NFL video involving teammate Brian Branch ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
St. Brown noted his strong production against Tampa Bay over the years, saying, “I just feel like our coaches do a good job of getting a good game plan for us. Their style of defense, they blitz a lot and have different coverages, so it’s hard to know what they’re going to be in. We just have to execute the plays we have.”
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On the team’s mindset after a loss, St. Brown said, “We just want to bounce back. Losing happens to the best teams, but we have a group that can bounce back. We didn’t play our best last Sunday, so this is another week to get back on track.”
St. Brown also reflected on the team’s growth over the years: “We know what it looks like now to win, what it takes to win games, the preparation during the week. It’s not just game day. We have guys who know what it takes and coaches who don’t want to fall two games in a row.”
Brian Branch
Regarding the controversial video about Branch, St. Brown called it “crazy” and said, “Brian is one of the nicest dudes, quiet, always smiling. He made a mistake, apologized, and I don’t know why it’s still being dragged along. That video wasn’t right.”
The video in question was posted from a segment on the NFL’s “Turning Point,” where former player and front office member turned analyst Louis Riddick narrated plays that led to Branch’s boiling point before he slapped Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The video was taken down, but the damage was already done as the backlash they received was defining.
D.J. Reader
Reader addressed the video controversy as well, saying, “It was dumb, ridiculous on their end. The internet doesn’t forget. I know Brian personally; he’s an amazing person. He had a bad moment and will learn from it.”
He criticized the NFL for releasing the video: “If you don’t want to glorify something, why release a new video about it? It doesn’t seem like they’re trying to move on. It’s strange coming from the NFL.”
Reader also expressed distrust toward the NFL officials involved: “How can you trust the Shield now? They don’t have your back or care about your safety. People who care about you don’t do that.”
On the importance of the upcoming game against Tampa Bay, Reader said, “It’s super important, especially coming off a loss. They’re a really good team with a good quarterback. We want to come out with a win and put our best foot forward.”
Reader addressed facing the highest rate of double teams in the NFL this season and how Alim McNeill’s return could help.
He said, “I really hope they stay on me still. I hope he gets as many one-on-ones as possible and it’s good for him in that way.”
Reader added, “Lim’s a hell of a pass rusher and he’s coming back. So, I hope that I get a chance to pull some of those doubles off of him well, and he can go out there, really rush the pass, and get out there.”
When asked if he has faced this many double teams before in his career, Reader explained, “It’s not just because they think I’m like, ‘Oh, great.’ There’s a lot of things that we do schematically and defensively that kind of put me in that situation, but it’s cool.”
Jameson Williams
Williams discussed the team’s resilience after losses, saying, “We just have to forget what happened and focus on the next game. We have a hunger and love for football. Nobody likes losing, so we try not to lose and get wins.”
He also talked about his comfort going over the middle on routes: “I have no problem going across the middle. It’s just another play, a regular route. I just have to make the play and move the sticks or score.”
Williams talked about the rivalry between the Lions and the Buccaneers, describing it as a matchup between two strong teams and staffs.
“I never knew it was a rivalry,” Williams said. “I just look at it as two good teams, two good staffs going against each other. They’ve got great players over there, we’ve got great players over here. It’s all about who goes out, executes, and makes the most plays.”
Williams noted that their games often come down to the wire.
“I think we’ve played them three times, maybe since I’ve been here. I’m not sure. I think we won twice, lost once. But like, it always comes down to those types of plays.”
Williams emphasized the importance of effort and preparation: “When it comes down to that, it just comes down to who wants more on the details and who’s going to go the extra mile to win the game.”
He added, “I think we’ve got that in every position. We go hard throughout the week and prepare ourselves the right way so we can be ready to go out there and put it all on the line on game day.”