Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Antonio Brown and safety Mike Edwards are in the last week of their three-game suspension for falsifying their vaccination status. On Monday, both players are eligible to return and will be allowed to play again for the Bucs. That is, if Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians doesn’t decide to release them first.
During his press conference on Friday, Arians suggested a decision has already been made regarding the status of both Bucs players. Yet, it sounds like he’d prefer to keep the focus on Sunday night’s matchup against the 6-7 New Orleans Saints instead of players who won’t be available for the game.
Here’s what Arians had to say (h/t to Pro Football Talk for the quotes):
“It’s just a matter of making a statement, and whether I do it before this game or after, we’ll wait and see,” Arians said. “But I don’t want anything distracting from this game.”
Are Antonio Brown’s days with the Bucs numbered?
It’s hard to blame Arians for not wanting to create any further distractions. The suspensions were bad enough.
For AB’s part, he reportedly shared a clip of him working out at the team facility on his social media not much longer after Arians spoke to the media. But to be fair, Bucs players do have access to team facilities while serving their suspension, so the workout video doesn’t mean much of anything.
The real test comes on Monday, or possibly sooner if any word breaks of the official decision from the Buccaneers. As Arians mentioned, it’s simply a matter of releasing a statement, which could happen at any point between now and Monday.
A case could be made to drop whatever the eventual decision will be right before the game kicks off since by the time the game wraps up, the story will be all about the result, not about who may or may not be with the team.
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