Antonio Brown issued a lengthy and perhaps plausible statement Wednesday night, three days after he ran shirtless of the field at MetLife Stadium as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the New York Jets.
The reasoning behind Brown's departure had been widely speculated, but both sides now indicated Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians told him to leave after Brown refused to re-enter the game. Brown on Wednesday referred to it as being cut, which Arians did verbally say immediately after the game, although he still remains on the team.
Brown's camp has come out from the beginning and said the wideout did not feel healthy enough to return, despite being cleared by the team entering the Week 17 game. Arians has denied he had conversations with Brown about anything related to an injury immediately before Brown took off his jersey, shoulder pads, undershirt and gloves and departed the sideline and entered the tunnel. Ironically, Brown was doing jumping jacks and playing to the crowd in the end zone before disappearing from the public eye -- which made initial reports about the injury a bit difficult to believe.
Well, Brown's story indicating the injury as the source of his frustration with Arians gained more traction Wednesday with the statement. The wideout shared how the team knew about his ankle injury, and how he even exchanged texts with Arians before the game about said ailment.
Brown also added one crucial part that had been reported by the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday. The statement shared how Brown underwent an urgent MRI on Monday morning, which the statement said the Bucs did not know about.
"The MRI has been read by two top orthopedic surgeons in NYC, including Dr. Martin O’Malley at Hospital for Special Surgery," the statement said.
That would be damning evidence to confirm Brown's side of the, as it currently stands, he said vs. he said argument. If the injury is as severe as Brown expressed, it also would further paint the Bucs organization in a bad light.
How so?
Well, if Brown was in fact injured and if that is the reason the wideout did not want to return to Sunday’s game, then Arians was wrong for telling Brown to leave. You're not allowed to release a player due to injury, and that's something the NFLPA will be licking their chops over.
Now that's not to say that Brown should be free of criticism. He definitely should not. He quit on his team and embarrassed both himself and the Bucs with the theatrics that followed his exit. But, again, if this side of the story is true, the reasoning behind his frustrations that prompted the exit are more justifiable. And for some, it may completely change the narrative.
It's worth noting the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud reported the belief was "Antonio probably should've never been on the field to begin with Sunday." That, of course, would have came from Brown's camp, as well, so we have to take it with a grain of salt for the time being.
Essentially, the biggest thing we're still missing is confirmation from a medical professional -- perhaps Dr. Martin O’'Malley at Hospital for Special Surgery -- stating that Brown's injury lives up to the severity he is indicating. Perhaps it even confirms that Brown never should have been on the field.
Because right now it still is, although this would be quite the leap for Brown's camp to make given the relentlessness of the statement, an unconfirmed side of the story that makes the receiver's decision viewed more favorably.
