St. Brown offering special deliveries
GREEN BAY - His locker had been moved.
After three years with the Green Bay Packers, Equanimeous St. Brown was still a part of the team … but not.
The wide receiver, taken in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL draft, had been waived in final roster cuts ahead of the 2021 season. The next day, the club signed St. Brown to the practice squad. But life was unquestionably different. Starting with the fact that when St. Brown entered the facility that first day as a practice squad member, his locker had been moved.
“It was tough, you know? That day was tough and then when I first came in the building, that was tough,” said St. Brown recently, recounting his notable journey this season.
So St. Brown formulated a plan, a path to get back to the active roster better than ever. After three years of not being a factor on special teams, he started there.
“That was one of the main reasons I feel like I got cut, was they didn’t know I could do special teams,” he said. “I wanted to prove that to the team and myself . ... I had to switch my mind and say, ‘I got to work hard, and you know, make the most of my opportunity.’”
During that time, quarterback Aaron Rodgers pulled him aside and gave the young receiver a message.
“I got a hold of him and had a nice conversation with him at the end of training camp when he was released,” Rodgers said. “I felt like there was going to be an opportunity for him at some point in the season.”
Said St. Brown: “As my quarterback and who he is as a player to have my back, after I got cut and him reaching out to me meant a lot. And you know, it just meant a lot that he had my back and I know that once I had an opportunity he was going to give me a chance to make plays.”
That he did. After three spins of the carousel that saw St. Brown elevated for a game, then sent back to the practice squad, the man known as “EQ” was placed back on the active roster in midOctober.
Everything he taught himself while on the practice squad is now paying off on the field.
“As a receiver or as any player, you don’t come to the NFL thinking ‘I’m gonna play special teams,’ you want to play your position,” St. Brown said. “So I think it’s a mental switch. And it’s a want-to thing to be able to perform on special teams.”
As a gunner, St. Brown has stood out game after game, including downing two punts within the 5-yard line last week in a win over the Los Angeles Rams. Now with a little perspective to accompany his new involvement, St. Brown is making his impact felt off the field as well.
“He’s been teaching the young guys, the gunner, the outside corps,” Packers special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton said. “They have done a great job this season and also in blocking roles on punt return. But even when he wasn’t playing, he took an ownership and coaching those young guys up and now he’s able to say, ‘hey, this is what I was talking about.’”
Drayton’s support is playing a big role in getting St. Brown back to this point too, according to the 25-year-old receiver. “Coach Mo’s had my back since he’s been here, my rookie year, and he’s always been a good coach to me, one of my favorite coaches of all time, so he’s been real helpful in my journey,” St. Brown said.
Special teams may have been why St. Brown felt he was cut, and what he used to bring himself back, but Rodgers was onto something as well when he told his receiver there would be an opportunity for him at some point this season. In the Week 11 game against the Minnesota Vikings, St. Brown had two receptions on two targets for 43 yards. That doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, but they were important in the moment, leading Rodgers to highlight St. Brown — unprompted — after the game.
“I’ve highlighted some guys over the season; one guy especially that I do want to continue to highlight is EQ,” Rodgers said. “He was released from the team and he’s come back to us and done a really nice job. It doesn’t always show up big in the stat sheet, but he’s a guy I trust a lot and a guy who’s made some timely plays for us, so I’m really proud of him and all the other guys who’ve stepped up ... but (I’m) proud of EQ especially.”
St. Brown’s locker is back in its normal place, as is his place on the roster. It can be taken at any moment, he’s learned, but it also can be earned back. That’s a lesson he won’t soon forget.
“I would’ve been happy never having to deal with that (practice squad),” he said. ”But it was a different experience. We all go through things in life and just have to work hard.”