TAMPA, Fla. ― Bruce Arians declared Sunday that Antonio Brown was no longer a Buc after the receiver made a dramatic exit from MetLife Stadium during the team’s 28-24 win over the Jets.
But as of Wednesday morning, Brown was still on the roster as the Bucs decide how to procedurally sever ties with him.
“It’s a management decision with what’s happening right now,” Arians said of Brown, who was not at practice Wednesday.
The Bucs are mulling several options. They could place Brown on injured reserve, which might come across as an admission that his ankle was too damaged to continue playing.
They could have claimed that Brown’s actions — removing his shoulder pads and jersey, throwing his undershirt and gloves into the stands and doing jumping jacks through the end zone on his way to the tunnel — could be “conduct detrimental,” which would make him subject to punishment under the personal conduct policy. But the league said Wednesday that Brown is not subject to sanctions.
“It’s a team matter,” said Brian McCarthy, the league’s vice president of communications.
The Bucs also could just deactivate Brown for the remainder of the season.
So far, the idea of an outright release doesn’t seem appealing to the Bucs because Brown would be subject to waivers and could wind up playing against them.
Members of the coaching staff on Monday told the Tampa Bay Times that they overheard Arians ask Brown to go into the game during a third-quarter conversation on the sideline, but Brown refused.
Arians insisted Monday that Brown never mentioned anything during their conversation about the ankle injury that forced him to miss two days of practice last week.
Brown appeared on Cameo, a celebrity video message platform, and spoke about his tenuous situation. “I’m trying to figure out my team, my squad, what I’m doing, where I’m going,” he said.
Brown’s camp has promised an official statement soon. On Wednesday, it indicated Brown underwent an MRI with a surgeon outside of the organization that confirmed the source of his pain during the Jets game.
Brown was cleared to play in the game and caught three passes for 26 yards in the first half.
Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski said the team is prepared to move on without Brown, and players are treating it as if he is injured again.
“You’re kind of in that situation throughout the whole year when someone’s missing,” Gronkowski said. “You see someone go down. In this aspect, it’s not an injury, it’s a different way that some other people have to step in. It’s football. That’s what it is. It’s other teammates stepping up, and that’s what we got to do. For example, look at (wide receiver) Cyril (Grayson). He stepped up his game and had a touchdown in the final minute of the game. It’s the next guy up.”
Bucs defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said Brown’s teammates remain supportive of him and are willing to help in any way they can if he needs it.
“When it comes to the playing side of things, injuries happen,” Suh said. “So we’re looking at it from an injury perspective. Really, the next man needs to step into that particular role. It happened earlier this year to a multitude of different players, let alone AB himself. So when we look it from that standpoint, we’ll move forward from football.
“When it comes to the personal side of things, I think everybody has compassion and has true hearts to understand that something is going on that needs to be taken care of on a personal level, and we’re here to help you. But you have to want help at the same time, as well.”
Suh, who received a lot of negative attention early in his career and was once regarded as a “dirty” player due to personal foul penalties, said people are too quick to judge players without knowing what’s going on in their personal lives.
“The important thing is take an unbiased look at people and do the homework,” Suh said. “Take the time to get to know somebody. Ask them questions. And then you take your opinion based on those reactions. Don’t make an opinion of somebody because you saw something, you read something, because you absolutely don’t know what transpired and what took place.
“If you can look at people from a lens unbiased, I think you make a decision from that standpoint and go from experiences.”
Meanwhile, preparations for the regular-season finale against Carolina are underway.
Punter Bradley Pinion was activated from the COVID-19 list, and guard Aaron Stinnie, who had been on injured reserve, began his 21-day practice period.
Running back Ronald Jones, who suffered an ankle injury against the Jets, was in a boot, Arians said. Also not practicing Wednesday were linebackers Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul, center Ryan Jensen, defensive back Rashard Robinson and receiver Justin Watson.
Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who suffered a rib injury, was present during the walk-through practice, but it’s unknown whether he participated.
Cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting, who left Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury, and Richard Sherman (Achilles) also were at practice.
