×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

NFL won’t prevent Brown from playing Sunday

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Sep 14, 2019

AP photo The path has been cleared for controversial receiver Antonio Brown to play for the Patriots on Sunday.

The NFL, according to multiple reports, will not stop controversial New England Patriots wideout Antonio Brown from playing on Sunday.

And it doesn’t appear the Patriot will, either.

Brown has practiced fully with the team since Wednesday, which is a strong indication he will play Sunday in Miami vs. the Dolphins.

“We’ll do what’s best for the team,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Friday when asked if Brown would play. When asked if it would be best for the team to have Brown play, Belichcik said, “Well, we’re determining that. I’m not going to hand out a copy of the game plan here. We’ll do what we think is best for the team.”

The NFL is reportedly hesitant to place Brown on the Exempt List because it has not fully investigated the sexual assault complaints detailed in a lawsuit filed earlier this week by Brown’s former trainer, Britney Tayor. They are reportedly set to meet with Taylor and also Brown at some point next week.

“No, I don’t have any comment on that,” Belichick said with regard to the exempt list. “That’s not a decision I would make.”

While there is no language in the league by-laws/NFLPA agreement that prevent a player from being placed on the list in the absence of any criminal complaint, the league has for the most part yet to have ever done that.

Also, according to ESPN, there was some type of a non-disclosure agreement between legal representatives of Brown and Taylor during discussions prior to the filing of the suit that may have prevented the Patriots from knowing anything about the lawsuit until it became public on Tuesday night.

Thursday night, Brown appeared again on social media with a short Instagram video while working out at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s TB12 training facility at Patriots Place. Belichick would not comment on that.

Belichick said on Friday that there’s “a long way to go” with Brown learning the Patriots system.

“Obviously, he’s not familiar wth our offense,” he said. “The systems that he’s been in have been quite different. Jon (Raiders coach Gruden) does the West Coast offense, and there’s very little carryover from their system to our system. … And a similar thing in Pittsburg.

“You know, he’s working hard to pick it up, and we’re working hard to get it to him.”

In other words, expect business as usual with the Patriots with regard to Brown, which likely means he’ll be on the active roster Sunday.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *