The last 48 hours have been rather dramatic for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, even by his standards, and it was left to his agent to try and do some damage control on Tuesday to explain away some of his troubling actions of late. Speaking to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Drew Rosenhaus did his best to earn his three percent with a statement meant to shut down all the negativity surrounding his client.
This after Brown had tweeted about being traded and then failed to show up at practice on Monday.
1/2 Steelers' WR Antonio Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus: "The tweet yesterday was not in reference to anything other than Antonio responding to a person he knows. It was not directed towards a trade, or wanting to be trading. Any idea he was asking for a trade is not accurate.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2018
2/3 Rosenhaus: “Antonio had a personal matter. I talked to the team about it. His issue was unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. Third, AB has an incredible drive to win. He just wants to win. That's all that that is.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2018
3/3 “That's not anything more than him encouraging his coaches and teammates to win. And that's what his entire focus is on. Any notion, any speculation otherwise, can be put to bed. This is a non-story that has been blown out of proportion. We can end this right here and now."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2018
There cannot be too many observers who took Brown’s tweet about being traded seriously, but his no-show at practice just a day after he was seen arguing with Randy Fichtner on the sidelines during the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs is not a good look.
No one questions Brown’s desire to win or how hard he works, but equally, no one can deny he was out of sync with the offense for much of the game in Week 2 and his visible frustration was clear for all to see. Brown is far from the only diva in the league at his position, however, sometimes his action come across as being selfish, even if that is not his intention.
With Mike Tomlin suggesting he would be speaking to the Steelers star receiver about his recent behavior during his press conference on Tuesday, it can only be hoped this will draw a line under this topic. Sadly, I highly doubt it.
#LIVE: Coach Tomlin recaps Week 2, and previews our Week 3 matchup in Tampa. https://t.co/s07d4xskto
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 18, 2018