Arians says AB exit not about injury

TAMPA — Antonio Brown’s latest messy departure from an NFL team, the Buccaneers, was not about an injury, coach Bruce Arians said Monday.

Yes, the Buccaneers are moving on from Brown, whose NFL career is on hold yet again after another in a series of incidents, including two women accusing him of sexual assault in 2019.

But Arians dispelled the notion that Brown stormed off the field Sunday — tossing some of his gear into the stands and waving to fans at the Jets’ MetLife Stadium — after refusing to go back in because of an ankle injury that had sidelined him for several weeks.

Twice, Arians was asked about Brown claiming he was hurt. Both times, the coach answered “No,” that Brown didn’t tell him he was injured.

“It’s pretty obvious what happened. He left the field and that was it,” Arians said, declining to elaborate on an exchange the coach said he had with the receiver on the sideline.

Pressed for details on what was said and whether Brown claimed he was too injured to play, Arians replied: “We had a conversation and he left the field.”

Asked what specifically was said that might move Brown to react the way he did, the coach added: “You have to ask him, brother. I don’t have a clue.”

“I just hope the best for him,” Arians said, while shedding little light on what led to Brown taking off his jersey, shoulder pads, undershirt and gloves before walking off during the third quarter of Sunday’s 28-24 Tampa Bay victory.

Arians added he has no regrets about giving the often-troubled receiver an opportunity to play with Tom Brady and revive a career derailed by on- and offthe-field issues — even though it ended in such a bizarre fashion. Tampa Bay was Brown’s third team since his last full season in the NFL with the Steelers in 2018.

The 33-year-old Brown also had messy departures from Oakland and New England — released before ever playing a game for the Raiders and then suiting up just once during a brief stay with the Brady-led Patriots in 2019.

“I wish him well. I hope if he needs help, get some,” said Arians, who was Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator when the Steelers drafted Brown in the sixth round in 2010. “It’s very hard because I do care about him.”

Brown hadn’t played in the NFL in more than 13 months when he signed with the Bucs in October 2020 as he neared the end of an eight-game suspension for multiple violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. At the time, Brown was also facing a civil lawsuit filed in September 2019 by a female personal trainer who accused him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions. He was not criminally charged.