Antonio Brown will not play in one of the biggest games of his career. On Friday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians announced the star wide receiver had been ruled out for the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday due to a knee injury. This is not a big surprise considering he hasn’t practiced all week.
“I just talked to him this morning, and to put him on the plane and fly up there and have it swell more doesn’t any sense,” Arians said, as reported by ESPN. “He wasn’t as close as we’d hoped, so we’ll get him ready for the next one.” Brown suffered the knee injury during the Buccaneers’ divisional-round playoff game against the New Orleans Saints last weekend. He only played in 27 snaps in the team’s 30-20 victory.
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Despite not practicing this week, Arians described Brown as “day to day,” but his injury hasn’t healed quickly enough to play on Sunday. The Buccanneers will come into Sunday’s game not as healthy as they would have liked. Top wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will likely play but have been limited in practice due to injuries. Running back Ronald Jones, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and safety Antoine Whitfield are a few of the other Bucs players on the injury report.
Brown signed with the Bucs in October. After being suspended for the first eight weeks of the season. In eight regular-season games, Brown caught 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. In 2019, Brown played in one regular-season game, which was for the New England Patriots. He was cut from the team due to sexual assault and sexual misconduct allegations against him. Before signing with the Patriots, Brown was with the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders), but never played a game for them as he was cut for misconduct.
From 2010-2018, Brown was a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. His best season was in 2015, as he caught 136 passes for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns. In his nine seasons with the Steelers, Brown was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and to the All-Pro Team five times. His production also led to him being named to the 2010s All-Decade Team. In his career, Brown has caught 886 passes for 11,746 yards and 79 touchdowns.
