Antonio Brown has created a significant distraction for the Pittsburgh Steelers with some of his antics over the past several days, but Ben Roethlisberger does not seem overly concerned about it.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Roethlisberger was asked for his thoughts on some of the drama surrounding Brown. He said the star receiver has not addressed the team about being absent from meetings on Monday, but Roethlisberger also defended Brown for being frustrated.
Roethlisberger on Brown's frustration: "He is the best in the world. When you are the best in the world you want to win football games and we are all a little frustrated because we aren't winning right now." #Steelers #dkps
— Dale Lolley (@dlolley_pgh) September 19, 2018
Some of that frustration spilled over during Pittsburgh’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, as Brown was seen barking at offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner on the sidelines.
#Steelers WR Antonio Brown lost his cool on the sideline on Sunday.
Brown also reportedly missed film review and team meetings on Monday, per @EdBouchettepic.twitter.com/XxpULyoi8U
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 18, 2018
Roethlisberger also downplayed that.
Ben Roethlisberger didn't seem overly concerned about AB's absence or behavior during the game. Said everybody is competitive. Everybody gets frustrated. Said Fichtner handled AB's outburst appropriately. #Steelers
— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) September 19, 2018
Of course, that is only a portion of the buzz Brown has created this week. He also hinted that he might be unhappy with the Steelers when he fired back at a former team employee on Twitter who said Brown is “lucky” to play with Roethlisberger. While some interpreted the response to mean Brown wants to be traded, Big Ben does not believe that is the case.
“I don’t think he wants to be traded,” Roethlisberger said on his weekly radio show on 97.3 The Fan Tuesday, per Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I’ll speak to him (Wednesday) and maybe I’ll have a different answer for you, but I think it’s the competitor in him, a guy who is still fired up. I think he enjoys being here.”
Brown’s agent gave a very vague excuse for why the receiver skipped work on Monday, and most people aren’t buying it. It seems fairly obvious that Brown is frustrated with the way things are going, though it’s no surprise Roethlisberger and the team are doing everything they can to put out the fire.
