Antonio Brown Releases Official Statement Claiming Tampa Bay Buccaneers Forced Him To Play Through Serious Injury

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Antonio Brown has officially released his first statement since abruptly exiting the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets last week.

In a lengthy statement, the wide receiver revealed that he suffered from a series of broken bones and torn ligaments in his ankle that requires surgery. The has named the Buc’s coaching team for being negligent with his ankle injury and forcing him to play to be the reason why he stepped off the field without warning. He also accused the team of misconstruing his outburst for a “mental health issue.”

According to Brown, the Bucs coach Bruce Arians had previously denied knowing that Brown was injured. Through his attorney Sean Burstyn, Brown has now released a statement clearing up his injury while detailing his perspective of the situation.

When discussing his conversation with Coach Arians, Brown wrote in his statement,

“I took a seat on the sideline and my coach came up to me, very upset, and shouted, ‘What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you?’ I told him, ‘It’s my ankle.’ But he knew that. It was well-documented and we had discussed it.
He then ordered me to get on the field. I said, ‘Coach, I can’t.’ He didn’t call for medical attention. Instead, he shouted at me, ‘YOU’RE DONE!’ while he ran his finger across his throat. Coach was telling me that if I didn’t play hurt, then I was done with the Bucs.”

Brown also added that he felt a “rush of emotions” and was triggered by “someone telling me that I’m not allowed to feel pain.” The injury in question was suffered in Week 6 where Brown had to miss five games. In his return in Week 15, Brown reaggravated the injury, which resulted to his performance at the Jets game.

Read Antonio Brown’s full statement below.