Bruce Arians Sees 'Too Much Diva' in Antonio Brown in Steelers Dispute
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is not a fan of the changes he's seen in Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Arians was a guest on ESPN's The Adam Schefter Podcast on Tuesday. When asked by Schefter what he thought of the drama between Brown and the Steelers, Arians spoke frankly on his views of the situation from afar.
"There's too much miscommunication," he said. "Too much diva. I've heard so many stories. I like Antonio. He plays as hard as anybody on Sunday and he practices hard. He's just gotta make better decisions off the field, be on time, do some of those little things."
During Arians's tenure as the Steelers' offensive coordinator, the team selected Brown in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft. Arians told Schefter that Brown is different now than when he was a rookie.
"He was the hardest working," Arians said. "He and Emmanuel Sanders, boy they went after it because Mike Tomlin used to tell them, 'two dogs, one bone.' And at that time we had Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, I mean we had a pretty good run for one of them to get on the field. By the end of the season, they were both winning for us to go to the Super Bowl."
The Steelers lost Super Bowl XLV to the Green Bay Packers in February 2011. Arians stayed with the Steelers for another season before becoming the Indianapolis Colts' offensive coordinator.
This season, Brown tallied 104 carries with 1,287 receiving yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns for the Steelers. He missed the regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals after opting to sit out of practice during the week and having a reported dispute with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Last week, Steelers president Art Rooney II said the team will not release Brown, but "all other options are on the table." Rooney added that he will talk to other players to see how they feel, but it would be "hard to envision" Brown still with the Steelers when they report to training camp in July.
