Brown arrives to Raiders camp in balloon, goes on IL

NAPA — Antonio Brown got an early start on check-in day at Oakland Raiders’ training camp when he floated in on a hot air balloon at an undisclosed location in Napa on Friday.

That wasn’t the only surprise. Later in the day, the Raiders confirmed an ESPN report in the form of releasing the name of Brown on the non-football injury list along with two other players who would not be ready to open training camp.

The NFI list is for players who were injured away from the team setting. General manager Mike Mayock said in a press conference earlier in the day the only players expected to be unavailable were guard Denzelle Good (back surgery) and fullback Keith Smith (knee).

Good was listed on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP), while Smith was on NFI.

The Raiders, according to a source, have known for “a couple of weeks” there could be an issue with Brown being ready on Day 1 and that the wide receiver would “probably” miss a week of practice. As recently as six days ago, Brown tweeted a video of himself going through a workout catching bricks.

Neither Mayock nor coach Jon Gruden mentioned the possibility of Brown missing practice during the media session, and a specific injury has not been released.

Asked directly which players wouldn’t be ready to participate, Mayock said, “at this point, we have two names” — Good and Smith.

Gruden tried to have fun with Brown’s arrival-by-balloon, and may or may not have been hinting something was amiss when he said, “I expect a lot more drama from No. 84, I really do.”

Brown’s excursion started just as the sun was rising and was captured by the team’s Web site Raiders.com.

Brown’s training camp entries in Pittsburgh once included arrival by helicopter on the playing field.

“I thought it’d be exciting to switch it up,” Brown said in the video. “Napa Valley is obviously known for the hot air balloons. This camp is so important for this team because there’s a lot at stake. We’ve kind of got to develop our own identity. I think it all starts today with the commitment from guys there.”

After the balloon landed, Brown stepped off and delivered the money line: “Raider Nation, I’m here in Napa. It’s time to get to work, baby. Float like a butterfly, sting like ‘A.B.’”

Mayock and Gruden talked up Brown in a way that suggested they weren’t overly concerned about a lengthy absence.

“I expected a little bit more than a hot air balloon,” Gruden said. “I thought he might jump out of an airplane in a parachute

in here himself, but he’s going to add a lot of life to this organization at a position where obviously we need some explosive plays.”

Mayock said Brown’s work on the practice field impresses young and old alike.

“I can just tell you that at practice, when he catches a quick slant and gets vertical and goes, it’s rare to see grown men in the NFL start looking at each other and start giggling and a laughing. And it happens almost every day in practice,” Mayock said. “I think what it also does is the young guys get to see what an All-Pro potential Hall of Famer actually practices on a daily basis. If you’re a young guy and you look at that, you’d better understand what it takes.”