Brown returns to practice facility
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Antonio Brown returned to the Pittsburgh Steelers鈥� practice facility on Tuesday for a meeting with Mike Tomlin, and again on Wednesday for a full day of meetings and practice.
鈥淗e and I met yesterday for an extended period of time,鈥� Tomlin said. 鈥淭here was discipline involved for his missed meeting. Some of the other things we talked about extensively, he鈥檒l speak for himself on some of those things.鈥�
Brown is expected to talk to the media Thursday, but on Wednesday the offensive captains did the talking for him after his tantrum on the sideline Sunday led to a missed meeting Monday.
Brown was fined by Tomlin for missing the meeting, but his mid-game tantrum that was directed at offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner didn鈥檛 seem to bother teammates.
鈥淚鈥檓 not worried about AB,鈥� said Maurkice Pouncey. 鈥淎B鈥檚 the ultimate competitor. He loves playing football. He cares about winning. AB don鈥檛 just care about stats. You can tell by the way he plays he loves winning football games. He loves making an impact. And whenever you鈥檙e a competitor like that and things aren鈥檛 going the way the whole team wants, things sometimes are going to flare up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 totally fine. It happened last year and we went all the way and had a bye week. The guy鈥檚 a competitor.鈥�
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 the best in the world,鈥� said Ben Roethlisberger. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e the best in the world, you want to help, you want to win football games. We鈥檙e all a little frustrated because we want to win right now.鈥�
The Steelers, of course, lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 42-37, but Brown鈥檚 outburst occurred at the time James Conner was scoring the fourth touchdown on four consecutive Steelers possessions.
Conner鈥檚 touchdown ultimately tied the game, 28-28, but Brown鈥檚 outburst seemed to suck the air out of the Steelers. The Chiefs scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to put the game away. The Steelers, meanwhile, gained only 29 yards on their next two series, which included only one catch for 11 yards by Brown.
Brown finished the game with 9 catches (17 targets) for 67 yards as he and Roethlisberger struggled to connect on deeper patterns. After the game, Brown stormed out of the locker room, and the next day, when a former Steelers employee tweeted an opinion that Brown was lucky to be drafted by a team with Roethlisberger, Brown responded 鈥淭rade me let鈥檚 find out鈥� and didn鈥檛 show up for work.
Roethlisberger wasn鈥檛 offended by Brown鈥檚 tweet.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 attack me or anything like that,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淚 think he was more attacking someone that wanted to get a rise out of him. So, I know Antonio didn鈥檛 feel that way.鈥�
Roethlisberger avoids social media, and has advised teammates to do the same. 鈥淭here鈥檝e been times I鈥檝e just told guys, 鈥楬ey, try and be smart,'鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause isn鈥檛 that the point of trolls? People who just sit behind their computer in their mom鈥檚 basement or wherever, they are trying to bait you into saying things. I just think you have to be smart and rise above it at times.鈥�
Because of the 0-1-1 start, and because of the disorganization on defense Sunday, the team鈥檚 perception 鈥� compounded by Brown鈥檚 tantrum and Le鈥橵eon Bell鈥檚 continued absence 鈥� is taking a beating. The Steelers have been ridiculed for lacking discipline and have been called a 鈥渃ircus,鈥� among other things. Roethlisberger was asked what he would do to eliminate the distractions.
鈥淚 love this franchise, this organization,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淚t starts at the top with the Rooneys. Art is a great leader for all of us, and there鈥檚 a reason that there鈥檚 only been a few coaches here. If there were issues at that level, we would have a lot more turnover there. I think at some point the coaches have to do their thing but it also comes down to players doing theirs.鈥�
What would that entail?
鈥淚t鈥檚 just about being about your business, about your job, and going out there to practice, to meetings, being on time, and making sure you hold guys accountable.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 not the only guy who gets frustrated in games,鈥� Roethlisberger added. 鈥淲e all get frustrated. Like I said, when you鈥檙e the best in the world, you might get a little more frustrated than others. AB鈥檚 a very passionate football player. I think we all know that. The fans know that. And that鈥檚 what makes him special 鈥� his passion for this game and the passion to be great. So we don鈥檛 want to take that away from him. When he鈥檚 getting frustrated in games, I just tell him to stay with me, talk to me, communicate with me, let me know if I missed you on something. If there鈥檚 a way you鈥檙e getting open and I didn鈥檛 see it, let鈥檚 just talk and communicate. And he does a great job of doing that.鈥�
NOTES: David DeCastro tried to practice with his broken hand but left practice in pain after, teammates said, he fired his helmet into the ground. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure he鈥檒l be fine,鈥� Pouncey said. 鈥淚 think he was more mad than anything. He probably didn鈥檛 cover it enough. We鈥檒l see. Dave鈥檚 tough, man, trust me. He injured that in the first game and played two more quarters. He鈥檚 really, really tough. If Dave can be out there, he can be out there.鈥� Pouncey said DeCastro fired his helmet one other time during a practice. 鈥淟ast year we got into a fight out there with one of the D-lineman and he threw it. He鈥檚 OK. Trust me.鈥� 鈥� But are Marcus Gilbert (hamstring) and Ramon Foster (knee) OK? Gilbert believes his injury had to do with playing back-to-back 80-snap games, one in the rain. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e got a lot of miles on the tires,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淎s you get older, you need (rest) days like this. Come Monday, I think the guys will be able to play.鈥�