Don’t expect Brown to be bounced
If controversial WR’s healthy, he’ll likely be sticking around
TAMPA — No one has worked harder for the Tampa Bay Bucs at beating coronavirus than Bruce Arians.
A three-time cancer survivor, the 69-yearold Arians warned his team before the start of the 2020 season that they had better not infect him or 83-year-old offensive assistant Tom Moore.
“If any of you ... get me or Tom sick, I’ve got a gun. I’m going to shoot you in the knees,” Arians is quoted as saying in A Season in the Sun: Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Inside Story of the Making of a Champion by Lars Anderson.
On Friday, Arians said he would not address the futures of receiver Antonio Brown and safety Mike Edwards, suspended three games by the NFL for using fake vaccination cards, until they return. Brown is recovering from an ankle injury and would have missed the next two games anyway.
Both players, who are now vaccinated, are eligible to return in time to prepare for the Dec. 26 game at Carolina.
What will Arians do? Multiple times after signing Brown following his eight-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league’s conduct policy last season, Arians said he had a zero-tolerance policy for the veteran receiver. But if Arians was going to cut ties with Brown, he likely would have done so after Thursday’s suspensions were announced.
Edwards, meanwhile, has never had any off-field problems.
There are a few other notable factors when it comes to Brown.
When healthy, he’s still a talented player who makes the passing game run a lot smoother when opponents can’t always
double-team Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. And the Bucs are 5-0 with him this season.
But they also can win without Brown. Tampa Bay proved that in the NFC championship game at Green Bay last season. With Brown sidelined by a knee injury, who made the biggest play of the 2020 season? Scotty Miller, whose touchdown reception with seconds remaining in the first half gave the Bucs a comfortable lead.
But the only thing that matters in Arians’ decision-making is this: What does Tom Brady want?
Brady wants Brown back in the lineup because he gives the Bucs the best chance to win and perhaps repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The only thing that may change that is if Brown’s injury, which involves the heel, doesn’t improve and the Bucs decide just to let him finish the season on injured reserve.
Brown would receive what he’s owed and the Bucs can reevaluate his future with the team in the offseason.