Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Reportedly Yelled And Belittled Antonio Brown Before Heated Exchange That Led To Brown Going AWOL

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Last week we learned that Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and QB Ben Roethlisberger got into a heated on-field exchange during practice which led to Brown goin AWOL and missing several practices.

Via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Several sources said the Steelers’ decision to not play Brown against the Bengals had nothing to do with any type of knee injury.

The disagreement occurred Wednesday morning during a routine walk-through practice that precedes their regular afternoon practice on the South Side. Brown became disgusted and threw a football in anger at one of his teammates, several sources said.

After that, Brown did not practice the rest of the week. According to a source, it was Brown’s decision not to practice with his teammates.

It was initially reported that the exchange between Brown and Big Ben was Brown’s fault.

Today, former NFL wide receiver and current NFL Network analyst James Jones said that he has heard from multiple Steelers players that Roethlisberger’s constantly belittling of Brown reached a boiling point last week in practice.

Via Pro Football Talk

“I have talked to a couple people in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization and they told me this has been lingering on,” Jones said. “I’ve been told in meetings [Roethlisberger] would take shots at AB. Like, ‘I don’t got to throw you the ball,’ and things like that. Wednesday in practice, I heard he ran the wrong route, Big Ben threw the ball on the ground, said, ‘Get him out of here. Get somebody else in there,’ and that’s when AB was at his boiling point and that’s when he went off.”

Brown has since requested a trade from the team and it seems like the Steelers are happy to oblige.