Antonio Brown Reveals Texts With Bruce Arians, Says Team Knew About His Ankle Injury
Antonio Brown has broken his silence, releasing a series of texts between Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and himself concerning his ankle injury.
Brown posted the series of texts on Instagram and Twitter Thursday morning.
ARIANS: "This is BA. Make sure your ready to go tomorrow. We ARE NOT resting for the playoffs. Call me."
BROWN: "I'm all in coach really caint get to full speed I wanna win wanna be there if I wake up tomorrow feel better I'll be ready kinda rolled it outside on 2pt play I want what's best for team lmk when your free I'll call u."
ARIANS: "Come see me in the morning. We'll talk it out. Definitely want you with us in case you're ready."
Arians, meanwhile, said Monday that he didn’t believe Brown was injured at the time of the incident. Brown previously missed six weeks due to an ankle injury and returned in Week 16 against the Panthers.
In addition to the texts with Arians, Brown also posted an exchange with Alex Guerrero, known for his role as Tom Brady’s personal trainer.
Brown is alleging that Guerrero asked for $100,000 to do work on him. That work, according to Brown, didn’t materialize. While Brady was tagged in the post, Brown said on Twitter this was an issue between himself and the organization, not his teammates.
“Don’t get it twisted. My brothers have been good to me. From Tom to practice squad, we were a top-level unit,” he wrote. “They have been good to me and knew nothing about my talks with coach last week. The team mishandled this situation. They let me down and, more importantly, my teammates.”
Brown, 33, released a statement Wednesday through his agent, Sean Burstyn, detailing his side of what happened before he exited MetLife Stadium shirtless during the game.
"I suited up, the staff injected me with what I now know was a powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller that the NFLPA has warned against using, and I gave it my all for the team,” Brown said.
Brown then alleged that Arians came up to him on the sideline after Brown claimed he couldn’t play on his ankle anymore.
"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,” Brown said. “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!'"
Brown said he had an MRI done outside the Tampa Bay organization that revealed ligaments torn from the bone and cartilage loss, which will require surgery.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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