On Wednesday, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came to praise wide receiver Antonio Brown, not call him out.
"He's probably the best wide receiver in the game now, maybe that ever played," Roethlisberger said in the Steelers locker room Wednesday morning.
But what about the distraction the quarterback and Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Brown caused in Baltimore when he attacked a water cooler and demonstrably showed his displeasure on the field and on the sideline because he was not thrown the football when wide open one time?
"We're over it now," Roethlisberger said. "We've moved on to Jacksonville. Wednesday, it's Jacksonville week. This is a really good defense. We don't have time to think about anything else but that right now."
Brown declined to be interviewed on the topic Wednesday and noted that he only talks on Friday. "Nothing's changed," he said.
However, shortly after noon Wednesday Brown wrote this on Twitter: "Apologize for all the noise and the distractions Steelers nation let's stay focus (hashtag)Pushfor7"
Roethlisberger did acknowledge that it was his job as captain to say something about his star receiver after the demonstration in Baltimore.
"Well, 14 years and being a captain for quite a few I'd like to think as a leader of this team that's kind of my job. You have to be able to talk to people, you've got to be able to communicate in different ways. I've been doing this for a long time. That's kind of one of the roles of being a captain."
He was asked if he thought Brown would get the message.
"I'm sure. He's a professional."
And with that, Roethlisbeger heaped all kinds of accolades on Brown.
"We've got amazing chemistry. I'd like to think we may go down as one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos of all time. That would be an awesome honor because of the guys I consider up there."
Those, he said, would include Joe Montana to Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin and Terry Bradshaw to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, among other duos.
