Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said Antonio Brown was angry about not getting the ball enough before the wide receiver stripped off his uniform and exited MetLife Stadium in Week 17. More than a month later, one Bucs star has backed up Arians’ account.
Mike Evans spoke about the Brown incident during a recent interview with Matt Harmon of Yahoo Sports. Evans said he remembers him and his teammates trying to convince Brown to go back into the game after Brown was upset and “wanted the rock.” He said both him and Brown were on a limited snap count because of injuries. When Evans came to the sideline, he saw Arians and Brown arguing.
“AB goes off. And he’s about to take his pads off. And I’m trying to grab his pads and tell him like, ‘Yo, big bro…” Because me and him have a relationship, and I don’t want him to go out like this,” Evans recalled. “Obviously we need him, so I’m telling him, ‘Big bro, we need you. The season’s almost over. If you don’t want to be here next year, you can leave, you know what I’m saying?'”
Evans said he noticed during a TV timeout after the Bucs scored that Brown was taking his pads off and pumping up the crowd. If you don’t remember the surreal incident, you can watch it unfold here.
Brown has maintained that Arians and the Bucs’ coaches tried to force him to go into the game when he was too injured to play. Arians said Brown was upset during halftime about not getting the ball enough and refused to play. Everything Evans said supports Arians’ story.
H/T Pewter Report
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