Antonio Brown escalates Buccaneers drama with leaked Bruce Arians texts

Antonio Brown’s rift with the Buccaneers is getting uglier by the day.

On Thursday, the former Buccaneers wideout took to Twitter and Instagram to share screengrabs of alleged text messages he exchanged with Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians before Brown’s viral exit in Sunday’s Buccaneers-Jets game at MetLife Stadium.

The images of the messages show a conversation between the coach and player about Brown’s ankle injury he initially suffered in Week 6, and for which he missed five games.

Brown shared a photo of himself getting treatment from a trainer on his right ankle, allegedly telling Arians he “can’t get to full speed” while dealing with the injury.

Brown’s reply came after Arians allegedly texted him on Dec. 30, saying, “This is BA. Make sure your ready to go tomorrow. We ARE NOT resting for the playoffs.”

https://twitter.com/AB84/status/1479073303134457858

Brown appeared to try to prove the point that Arians was aware of his injury. He previously claimed Arians told him “you’re done” after Brown said he was too injured to play on Sunday.

In a separate message Thursday, Brown alleged that his teammates “knew nothing about [his] talks with coach [Arians] last week.”

“Don’t get it twisted. My brothers have been good to me. From Tom to practice squad, we were a top-level unit. They have been good to me and knew nothing about my talks with coach last week. The team mishandled this situation. They let me down and, more importantly, my teammates,” Brown posted Thursday on Twitter.

In a press conference Monday, Arians told reporters that Brown did not inform him about the injury on game day — and declined to share details about “a conversation” he had with Brown before the receiver’s shirtless exit from the field.

The Bucs coach also said that if a player has an injury issue, they go to the trainer, and the trainer would tell Arians they’re out.

“Health over Wealth,” Brown tweeted with the alleged messages, adding the hashtag, “Barbarian.” He also tweeted “Barbarian” before sharing the screengrabs.

https://twitter.com/gregauman/status/1479081111078772736?s=21

Brown then shared a screengrab on his Instagram Story showing an alleged text exchange from Dec. 24 with Tom Brady’s longtime trainer and TB12 business partner, Alex Guerrero.

He tagged Brady in the post, claiming Guerrero is “charging me 100k” despite “never doing the work on me!”

Brown added, “How u even work wit people like this! This is what I was dealing wit.”

Brown published the messages the morning after he shared a lengthy statement on social media accusing the Buccaneers of trying to force him to play through the ankle injury that he said requires surgery.

Brown’s attorney, Sean Bursytn, said in a statement that he has seen MRI results taken Monday on the receiver’s ankle that showed “a piece of loose bone … pressing into his ankle joint and a ligament snapped clean off the bone.”

Bursytn said Brown “needs surgery.” He also shut down “false rumors” that Brown’s exit in Sunday’s win against the Jets is related to “mental health issues.”

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1478912547474583552

On Sunday, Brown left the Week 17 matchup in the third quarter. Viral videos from the moment show him ripping off his shoulder pads on the sideline, before tossing his gloves and shirt into the crowd at MetLife Stadium. He then ran across the end zone to the locker room while pumping his arms in the air.

In a postgame press conference, Arians told reporters that Brown “is no longer a Buc.”

“I wish him well. If he needs help, I hope he gets some. It’s very hard. Because I do care about him,” he said. “I care about him a bunch. I hope that he’s OK.”

Brady has also repeatedly expressed his support for Brown.

The Bucs are reportedly having conversations with the NFL to determine how to move forward from the Brown situation.

The NFL has not yet addressed Brown’s exit and allegations against the Buccaneers and Arians. Brown is still listed as active on the Buccaneers’ roster.

Tampa will close out their regular season when they host the Panthers on Sunday.