Brown eligible to play, may not be able after little practice

Antonio Brown is said to be eligible to play Sunday against Miami. Whether he actually does after just three practices with the New England Patriots is still not clear.

“We’re determining that,” coach Bill Belichick said Friday. “I’m not gonna hand out a copy of the game plan. We’ll do what we think is best for the team.”

The star wide receiver Brown was not placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

Belichick, whose team faces the Dolphins Sunday in South Florida, would not confirm the move by the NFL before practice.

Brown has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a civil case in Florida and denies the allegations by his former trainer. He won’t go on the exempt list this week because no criminal charges have been filed and because the NFL hasn’t fully developed its investigation. Players on the list can’t play in games or practice with a team but are still paid.

Brown signed with New England after requesting and receiving his release from the Oakland Raiders.

Giants

New York might be without their top starting receivers for the home opener against the Buffalo Bills. Coach Pat Shurmur said Friday that go-to wideout Sterling Shepard will miss the game Sunday with a concussion and Cody Latimer is questionable with a calf injury. Rookie receiver Darius Slayton will miss his second game in a row with a hamstring injury and veteran Golden Tate III is suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substance policy. Shepard was hurt in the season-opening loss to Dallas last weekend, while Latimer injured his calf Wednesday in practice.

Buccaneers

Tampa Bay has never been very good at defying long odds, so avoiding an 0-2 start to the season was very important for a young team that hasn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade.

While the Buccaneers know firsthand that starting fast doesn’t guarantee anything, however a 20-14 victory Thursday night at Carolina gave them their first win under coach Bruce Arians and recent history suggests it gives them a far better chance of earning a postseason berth than if they hadn’t held on to beat the NFC South Division rival Panthers.

“You always want to get the first one off your back . ... A road win in the division is always big. It’s going to help us,” Arians said.