Football only subject worthy of discussion
Pats won’t talk about allegations against Brown
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In one week, Antonio Brown has asked for and received his release from the Oakland Raiders, signed a deal with the Patriots, received an invitation to room at the Brady-Bundchen residence, been accused in a lawsuit of sexual assault and rape by a former trainer, denied the allegations through a lawyer and through his agent in an appearance on “SportsCenter,” begun practicing with the Patriots, changed his jersey number, gone on Instagram Live with Alex Guerrero from the TB12 Center, noted gleefully that 17,000 people were watching that broadcast, been dropped by the helmet manufacturer Xe ni th (which had been sponsoring him since solving his helmet issues in Oakland this summer) and apparently has gotten the green light to play against the Dolphins on Sunday.
The Patriots have discussed none of it.
“No,” said Phillip Dorsett. “It’s the Dolphins.”
So with each new story rising long before the sun each morning, spawning headlines, drawing to Foxborough reporters who might otherwise be covering government or world affairs and furthering the uncertain circumstances around one of the best receivers in football, that was it. Inside Gillette Stadium, there was no big team meeting called, no edict given from Bill Belichick, according to multiple players. It did not come up in an official capacity.
It had taken a while for Belichick and the coaching staff to even acknowledge the signing of Brown. When they finally did Tuesday, their comments were comically understated.
“Well, we think he’ll help our team, but until we start working with him …,” Belichick said.
“Just an overall solid player that has done a lot of good things in our league,” added offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Among the good: 11,207 receiving yards in nine seasons, four All-Pro selections and a league-leading 15 touchdowns just last season.
But then the bad came. A little after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, the New York Times broke the news that a woman named Britney Taylor, who met Brown in college and trained him in 2017 and 2018, had alleged in a civil suit that Brown sexually assaulted her on three occasions, one of which was described as forcible rape. Included in the lawsuit are messages apparently from Brown to Taylor that describe one of the alleged assaults and contain disturbing, misogynistic language.
Wednesday morning, Belichick walked out of his scheduled news conference after 3 minutes and 50 seconds of back-and-forth. He spoke 151 words total. On Friday, he spoke 231 in one answer about offensive line depth.
He said Brown would be at practice but would not say if he knew Brown was about to be called a sexual abuser when he decided to make him a part of the team. The news conference ended after an exchange in which Belichick was asked what conversations he’s had with Brown.
“Yeah, I mean I’m done with that, OK?” Belichick said. “Anything else on Miami? Any other questions?”
Meanwhile, it was still Wednesday, a big day in Foxborough. The middle of the week is when the padded practices happen. Players are in full install mode getting ready for Sunday.
It went unspoken, but the message had come down from coaches to players that football was their only business. A few veterans had the OK to say the allegations were serious but people shouldn’t rush to judgment.
“I don’t want to minimize the serious nature of [the allegations], but I don’t feel I’m qualified to really speak to it because I don’t know anything about it,” Matthew Slater said.