DETROIT — The Lions will officially be without some big guns against Carolina, ruling out star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs for their game on Sunday against the Panthers. Brian Branch, their breakout rookie cornerback, was also ruled out earlier in the week.

Gibbs is the biggest surprise of the bunch. He was a full-go all week before popping up with a hamstring issue on Friday. He was initially declared questionable to play this weekend, before being downgraded to doubtful on Saturday and then out entirely on Sunday.

While Gibbs hasn’t done much on the ground, he has been a productive underneath receiver through the first month of his career. His absence will be felt during a game where St. Brown is also out, leaving Jared Goff without his favorite and most trusted target.

St. Brown is dealing with an abdomen injury he suffered against Green Bay and hasn’t practiced since. He said he wanted to play against Carolina, but ultimately the Lions took that decision out of his hands, instead turning their focus toward getting the star wideout ready for next week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kalif Raymond is expected to start for him in the slot, while rookie tight end Sam LaPorta will serve an even more important role in the underneath passing game.

The good news is receiver Jameson Williams has officially been cleared to make his season debut. He likely will serve a supporting role in the offensive game plan after missing so much time due to injury and suspension, but with St. Brown and Gibbs out, Detroit could lean on Williams to at least run some vertical routes and create space in the passing attack.

“Corners and safeties, if you can’t run 4.2, you better start backing up,” St. Brown said. “Because (Jamo) can run 4.2. I think that just itself opens up stuff for us underneath, because you have to respect his speed. At the end of the day, you can do all types of things with him. So having him on our team back, it feels great. We’re excited. I know the coaches are, too.”

Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley has also been cleared for his season debut after missing the first four games with knee and hamstring injuries.

As for the rest of Detroit’s inactives, both Levi Onwuzurike and Brodric Martin are healthy scratches. That’s a first for Onwuzurike, a former second-round pick who is coming off his first healthy training camp in Detroit, but just hasn’t produced on the field. Onwuzurike has one assisted tackle on 55 defensive snaps this season, and no quarterback hits.