TAMPA, Fla. ― In case anyone disputed whether Antonio Brown was injured when he abruptly left the field during a game against the Jets in January ― even the Bucs have acknowledged that much ― the wide receiver posted an MRI image of his foot/ankle Monday on his Instagram account.
Brown went even further, claiming the Bucs “tried to hurt me intentionally” by telling him to go back onto the field in the second half of the Jan. 2 game in East Rutherford, N.J.
Brown also used the occasion to revisit some of his ongoing complaints, including one confirmed by former teammate Mike Evans last week that Brown was upset quarterback Tom Brady didn’t throw him the ball more in the first half.
“Sent me out there after knowing I was hurt,” Brown wrote. “Tom said he would throw it if I came to play hurt. I came. He didn’t throw it. Imagine being hurt having to play through this and being lied to.”
Brown continued with an obscenity-laced tirade seemingly directed at head coach Bruce Arians and the Bucs, who later released him, concluding, “Still can’t stop me @nfl.”
The post has since been removed from Brown’s account.
In a video that accompanied the post, an unidentified man who may be a doctor can be heard going over the image with Brown and detailing what was causing him pain when he ran.
However, the scan of the ankle is from Oct. 15, one day after he suffered the injury in a win at Philadelphia. The video of the medical meeting is from Oct. 25. By the time Brown returned to the playing field nine weeks later, it’s reasonable to believe his condition greatly improved.
Brown missed eight games due to the injury and a three-game suspension for using a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. He returned in a win Dec. 26 at Carolina and caught 10 passes for 110 yards but complained about not getting enough targets in the first half of the following week’s game against the Jets.
Arians said Brown made a scene in the locker room at halftime about not getting more targets. He had three catches for 26 yards on five targets in the first half of the game.
After a brief exchange with Arians on the sideline, Brown stripped to the waist, threw his gloves into the stands and ran off the MetLife Stadium field, doing jumping jacks through the end zone on his way to the tunnel.
