CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter has been keeping an eye on the Antonio Brown saga with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who officially released the volatile receiver Thursday.
Brown has been taking to social media since he took off his shoulder pads on the sideline and walked off the field shirtless while waving to the crowd Sunday in New York to claim that the Buccaneers attempted to force him to play with an ankle injury – one that will require surgery.
“That is something you do not want to hear,” Tretter said. “I will not get too much into an individual person’s cases. That is always our policy. It is definitely something we have to look into and see what is going on down there.”
The Buccaneers released a statement in response Thursday morning denying the allegations before head coach Bruce Arians fielded questions on the situation during his media availability.
“At no point and time during that game did he ever ask for the trainer or doctor about his ankle. That's the normal protocol. ... I was never notified of it,” Arians told reporters according to the Associated Press.
“He was very upset at halftime about who was getting targeted. We got that calmed down. Players took care of that,” the coach added. “It started again on the sideline. We called the personnel group that he had played in the entire game. He refused to go in the game.”
Arians added that after learning of a problem with Brown on the sideline he asked Brown what was going on and Brown responded that he was done and would not play.
“That's when I said you're done. Get out of here. That's the end of it. We are working on Carolina,” Arians said. “That's the end of the story. Hopefully it ends today.”
Tretter was asked for his advice to players that might find themselves in a situation similar to the one that Brown alleges where they feel pressured to play injured.
“Know your rights,” Tretter said. “I think we can help in a lot of ways as a union, but also what we have been preaching for a while now is guys taking control of their health and well-being. I think doing what is best for your health and well-being is always a priority and making sure that you stay safe and healthy and do not put yourself at further risk. We will not dive too much into his issues, but something we definitely need to look at.”