There's been a lot of wonder when it comes to Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown 's game status for Sunday's contest against the Los Angeles Rams. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Brown did not make the team flight on Saturday, which essentially means that Brown will not play against the Rams.
Brown tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Per the NFL's rules, an asymptomatic Brown has to produce two negative tests within a 24-hour period if he wants to be eligible to compete in Sunday's contest. It appears that Brown did not meet this criteria based off the fact that he didn't travel with the team on Saturday.
The 11-year veteran, seven-time Pro Bowler, four-time All Pro, one-time Super Bowl champion, and member of the NFL's Hall Of Fame 2010s team joined the Buccaneers in Week 9 of 2020. He has 51 receptions for 622 yards and five touchdowns throughout 10 regular season games since then.
Third-year wideout Scotty Miller and second-year receiver Tyler Johnson will likely see increased snaps due to Brown's absence. Don't count out O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate seeing an increase in playing time, either. The Bucs' base offense has been listed as a 12 personnel-type offense since Bruce Arians arrived in 2019. The fact that the Bucs are missing their third option in the passing game could lead to more targets for the tight ends behind Rob Gronkowski.
Either way, it will be interesting to see how the Bucs handle Brown's absence on Sunday.
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