Antonio Brown is going on the offensive to prove that the Bucs knew that he was injured before Sunday’s game against the Jets.
On Wednesday night, Brown released a statement via his lawyer Sean Burstyn claiming that the Bucs coaches cut him on the sidelines when he refused to re-enter the game because he felt he was too injured to play.
“I took a seat on the sideline and my coach came up to me, very upset, and shouted, ‘What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you?’ I told him, ‘It’s my ankle.’ But he knew that. It was well-documented and we had discussed it,” Brown said. “He then ordered me to get on the field. I said, ‘Coach, I can’t.’ He didn’t call for medical attention. Instead, he shouted at me, ‘YOU’RE DONE!’ while he ran his finger across his throat. Coach was telling me that if I didn’t play hurt, then I was done with the Bucs.”
Antonio Brown’s statement says the Bucs pressured him to play with bone fragment in his ankle. pic.twitter.com/dj0ZNuswOd
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) January 6, 2022
Why would they embark on a campaign of false concealment? To avoid responsibility for ignoring the risk of serious injury for the sake of winning a game. Antonio has reflected on this for days and prepared a heartfelt statement that he will release soon. 2/6
— Sean Burstyn (@seanburstyn) January 6, 2022
We all know that the NFL does not condone the ordering of players in pain or at risk of serious injury to play. Moreover, the injury and location of the visible bone fragment prevented Antonio Brown from being able to make the type of football moves that he is famous for. 4/6
— Sean Burstyn (@seanburstyn) January 6, 2022
On Thursday morning, Brown released a text message between him and Arians talking about the injury before the game on Sunday.
Antonio Brown has released his text messages with Bruce Arians: pic.twitter.com/OWlJiqYdEf
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 6, 2022
After Sunday’s game, Arians had told the media that Brown hadn’t told anyone that he was injured while on the sidelines.
Bruce Arians said Antonio Brown didn't tell anyone he was injured, they did have a conversation, but Brown left on his own. Arians didn't say he told Brown to leave.
"We had a conversation and he left the field."https://t.co/LD77akl73H
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 3, 2022
Arians will face the media on Thursday afternoon and will surely be forced to answer many questions about Antonio Brown.