Antonio Brown Publishes Text Messages Purportedly Sent to Bruce Arians Regarding Ankle Injury

Wide receiver Antonio Brown took to social media on Thursday morning to share text messages purportedly sent to Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians, in which the two seemed to acknowledge Brown dealing with an ankle injury. 

In the messages, which are dated to Thursday, Dec. 30 and Friday, Jan. 1, Brown sends Arians a photo of him receiving treatment on his right ankle, writing in a subsequent message, "I wanna win wanna be there if i wake up tomorrow feel better I'll be ready kinda rolled it outside on 2pt play."

To which Arians responded, "Come see me [in] the morning. We'll talk it out. Definitely want you with us in case you're ready."

On Wednesday night, Brown released a statement, via his attorney Sean Burstyn, accusing the team of executing an “ongoing cover-up."

In the lengthy statement, Brown said that he relented when pressured by a coach to play with an ankle injury, and was injected with what he describes as a “powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller.” 

When the pain became too much and limited his performance, Brown said he exited the game and sat on the sideline, where he claims he was admonished by a coach to return to the field.

“I told him, ‘It’s my ankle.’ But he knew that. It was well-documented and we had discussed it,” Brown wrote. “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’s lawyer said in a statement that the wide receiver underwent an MRI on Monday, which revealed bone and ligament damage that would require surgery. 

Following Sunday's game, in which Brown left the field shirtless in the third quarter, Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Brown made no mention of an injury before leaving the field, a claim that Brown said Wednesday was “100% inaccurate.”

NFL Network reported earlier in the week that Brown told the Buccaneers coaching staff that he did not believe his ankle was healthy enough for him to continue playing, prior to his mid-game exit vs. the Jets on Sunday. Adding, in a report, that when Buccaneers coaches asked Brown to enter the game, in the second half of Sunday's eventual 28–24 win, Brown told them he did not want to re-enter because in his mind he did not believe he was healthy enough to do so. 

Buccaneers coaches, however, believed he was healthy, and told him that if he was not going to go into the game when told then he could not be with the team, per NFL Network.

While Arians said after the win Brown is “no longer a Buc,” as of Thursday morning, Brown has yet to be officially released. 

In two seasons with the Buccaneers, Brown recorded 1,002 yards and eight touchdowns. He had three catches for 26 yards in Sunday's game, prior to the incident.

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