Getty Antonio Brown had been sidelined with an ankle injury.
Antonio Brown has broken his silence on his outburst and is unleashing on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claiming the team pushed him to play through “extreme” pain. Brown released a lengthy statement to ESPN’s Adam Schefter through his attorney Sean Burstyn where Brown claimed that he left the field after he had been released verbally by Bucs head Coach Bruce Arians.
“Because of my commitment to the game, I relented to pressure directly from my coach to play injured,” Brown noted in the statement. “Despite the pain, I suited up, the staff injected me with what I now know was a powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller that the NFLPA has wanrned against using, and I gave it my all for the team.
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“I played until it was clear that I could not use my ankle to safely perform my playing responsibilities. On top of that, the pain was extreme. 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.
“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 the throat. Coach was telling me that if I didn’t play hurt, then I was done with the Bucs.”
Brown: ‘I Didn’t Walk Away From My Brothers. I Was Thrown Out’
Brown went on to say that the Buccaneers are attempting to “cover-up” their actions after the verbal altercation in Week 17. The receiver revealed that an MRI showed “broken bone fragments stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone and cartilage loss.”
“I didn’t quit,” Brown noted. “I was cut. I didn’t walk away from my brothers. I was thrown out. Being fired on the sideline for having a painful injury was bad enough. Then came their ‘spin.’ Coach denied on national television that he knew about my ankle. That’s 100% inaccurate.”
Arians on Brown Citing His Injury: ‘I Don’t Know That He Was’
Arians has declined to elaborate on the nature of his conversation with Brown but indicated that the receiver’s injury was not brought up during the conflict. The Bucs coach clearly had some backstory on Brown’s injury given he missed significant time this season and was likely referring to not discussing it during their sideline discussion.
“I don’t know that he was,” Arians responded during his January 3 press conference. He said he didn’t have additional details to share on the altercation. “I mean, it was pretty obvious what happened, so. He left the field and that was it.”
Brown Plans to Continue Playing Football After Having Surgery
Brown concluded his lengthy statement by indicating that he plans to continue playing football after he has surgery to repair his ankle. Regardless of the Buccaneers’ final decision on whether to cut Brown, the receiver will be a free agent this offseason.
“Once my surgery is complete, I’ll be back to 100% and looking forward to next season,” Brown added. “Business gonna be BOOMIN!”