Amon-Ra St. Brown already utilizing Marvin Jones’ veteran knowledge

After returning to the Detroit Lions in free agency following a two-year stint with the Jaguars, Marvin Jones Jr. told the media he was ready to act as a bit of mentor to the team’s young receiving corps. Jones, 33, is five years older than any other receiver in the room and 10 years older than both of the team’s budding stars: Amon-Ra St. Brown (23) and Jameson Williams (22).

“I think that’s one thing that people can take away from me, is like, ‘Hey, jeesh, this guy is how old or he’s been in the league for this long?’” Jones said back in early April. “And I’m still taking off. I’m still doing the same things that I need to do for me to be great. In the past, and I think my whole career has rubbed off on a lot of receivers or players, generally speaking, on the team. I think that’s what I’m going to do.”

Jones has only been with his new teammates for two days of offseason workouts, and he is already making an impression in the room. St. Brown revealed on Tuesday that he had picked Jones’ mind for two hours after Monday’s session to get his thoughts on a variety of topics.

“He’s been in the league a long time, obviously you’re doing something right if you’ve been in the league that long. But we talked for like two hours yesterday after workouts, just about life and everything. He told me he speaks Spanish, and he told me he’s self-taught. I want to learn Spanish, so I asked him how he learned. I’m on the same path. Hopefully next year by this time, I’ll be fluent.”

The conversation went well beyond St. Brown adding yet another language to his arsenal (he’s also fluent in German and French). The two talked plenty of ball, too. And it should come as little surprise that St. Brown was absorbing every piece of information he could from the 11-year veteran.

“I love to pick people’s brains, especially guys like that who have been in this league for that long,” St. Brown said. “He’s obviously doing something right, so I was just asking him what his workout routine is, what he does, because I have a certain way of working out in the offseason. I know everyone’s different, so I was just asking him a bunch of questions on what he does, what he likes, and he told me what works for him. What he told me is that everyone’s different, which is right, everyone’s body is different so just asking him a bunch of questions. I can never ask enough.”

St. Brown is coming off a Pro Bowl season in which he caught 105 passes for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns. And while the third-year receiver out of USC has some personal goals for the 2023 season, his primary focus this year is on team achievements.

“I have my personal goals, they change every year, obviously hoping to be better each year, but I’m not really worried about those anymore,” St. Brown said. “I’m worried about the team, the playoffs, what we can do as a team. Because I’m going to take care of myself, I already know that. But making sure this team is where it needs to be, which I know we can do. I’m excited for that. Trying to become more of a leader.”