Antonio Brown has maintained that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tried to force him to play through an injury before he left the team, and he attempted to provide some proof with an Instagram post on Monday. Brown quickly thought better of it, however.
Brown shared a photo of a foot X-ray on his Instagram story. He tagged the Buccaneers and wrote that “they tried to hurt me intentionally.” He also claimed Tom Brady told him that Brady would throw Brown the ball if Brown played hurt. You can see the post below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language.
Antonio Brown released this image of his foot/ankle injury on his IG account with usual claims that #Bucs made him play hurt, Tom Brady didn’t throw him the football and Bruce Arians fired him for being hurt. pic.twitter.com/tLOTOshcfm
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) February 21, 2022
There may have been one issue with the X-ray Brown shared. It appeared to be from October, which would have been three months before Brown stripped off his uniform and ran out of MetLife Stadium on Jan. 2.
Antonio Brown finally posted his injured ankle X-ray “from after the Jets game”.
The Bucs played the Jets on January 2nd.
One problem.
The X-ray is from October 2021.
He has since deleted the post. https://t.co/ytknVISM9D pic.twitter.com/fOTrEd5ESP
— disappointed nation (@CowboysNation) February 21, 2022
Brown suffered an ankle injury in Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles. That game took place on Oct. 14. The X-ray he shared on Monday was dated Oct. 15, so it would appear it was taken immediately after Brown suffered the initial injury. That probably isn’t going to help his case. Everyone knew A.B. injured his ankle earlier in the year. The question is whether he was healed or not before Week 17.
Brown previously said Arians and the Bucs’ coaches tried to force him to go into the game when he was too injured to play. Arians said Brown was upset during halftime about not getting the ball enough and refused to play.
As for the Brady criticism, Brown can’t seem to make up his mind how he feels about his former teammate. He made some comments ripping Brady after the Week 17 incident, but he then praised Brady when the QB announced his retirement.
Photo: Nov 8, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
