Tampa, Fla. – About seven months after Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians told Antonio Brown that “it won’t happen”, Books agreed to a deal with a controversial, but very talented wide receiver who played for the last. Arians with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011.
That coach wasn’t speaking, Arians is a direct shooter. He called Brown a “very diva” and said he wasn’t fit for Bucks’ locker room, even though quarterback Tom Brady campaigned behind closed doors for him. But that was before the injuries began mounting in the receiving corps of books.
Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans has been plagued by an ankle injury since the 4th week and has barely been able to practice. His other Pro Bowl receiver, Chris Godwin, has missed three games due to concussion and hamstring strain. His quick-witted threat Scotty Miller has been blocked by a hip / groin injury. And the tight end Oj Howard – who became a big part of the screen game – went to the injured reserve due to a broken Achilles.
The result? Brad D’s top receiver against the Chicago Bears was Rookie Tyler Johnson, whom he never completed a pass to last week. And if the Books want to make a run in the Super Bowl with Brady, not just the Postseason, they realize. That their windows are tight and, they need reinforcement in a position that has been hit hard by injuries.
This is the same reason they signed AQ Shipley as the backup center so that if something happened to Ryan Jensen, Brady could take a snap from the experienced center. That’s why they’ve signed Leonard Fornett and Lesson McCoy on the running back – to ensure that Brady had the experience of pairing up with Ronald Jones and Kevin Shawn – who could help in the passing game.
So, how would Arians handle Brown, with whom he traded barbs in public, tried with the New Orleans Saints, including a camera crew employee, who angered the Saints ‘coaching staff members, once the former Steelers’ defensive coordinator Libu cursed and arrived. At the Auckland Riders camp in a hot air balloon?
Emotions within the organization are strong enough to control the personality of the Aryans. Arians never had a problem giving anyone a piece of his mind – as seen by his explosive-filled tirades in practice, and he coached Brown with the Steelers. Brown also has relationships with several members of Arians’ coaching staff: offensive assistant Antoine Randall-L was his partner in 2010; Harold Goodwin was an aggressive assistant with the Stulers for two years while Brown was there; Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich played with Brown as a backup quarterback for two seasons in Pittsburgh; The P line was Brown’s teammate for four seasons in Suburbs. Newly acquired defensive tackle Steve McLendon played with Brown in Pittsburgh for six bouts.
But the person who can make the biggest impact of all, and who can catch Brown, is Brady, with whom Brown made an immediate connection when in New England. When Brody signed with the Patriots, Brown was invited to stay at his home. In their only game with the Patriots, Brown won the Miami Dolphins 43-0, taking four catches and a touchdown for 56 yards. The Patriots released him less than two weeks after signing with Brown.
Brady has had success keeping his teammates in check while others have failed. Examples include Lagaret Blunt, Martelus Bennett, Corey Dillon, Randy Moss and Akib Talib. But Brown’s off-field issues are serious – two cases where he was charged with sexual misconduct and battery and burglary. It will always need to be checked.
This step indicates how much influence Brad has on this organization. Brown’s personality is at odds with Evans, Godwin, Miller, Johnson, Justin Watson, Jadon Mickins and Cyril Grayson – players who don’t throw the ball and complain and live a relatively quiet life on the field.
Brown will not be eligible to play until the 9th week, but it is an important match against the Saints, who have a half-game lead in the NFC South of the Books but lost in the 1st week.
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