While Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is expected to play Sunday against the Denver Broncos in the team’s road Divisional playoff game, he is still in the league’s concussion protocol program, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
This news is not surprising in the least being as Brown took a vicious hit to his head from Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict late in Saturday’s game after failing to haul in a high pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Brown remained down on the field for several minutes following the hit before finally getting up and being escorted to the sideline by the team’s medical staff.
Brown has since been accused of “flopping” by Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, who went as far to say Monday morning on the Dan Patrick Show that the Steelers wide receiver “deserved a Grammy” for his actions. Burfict was fined 15 yards for his hit and following another 15-yard penalty on Jones for going after Steelers linebackers coach Joey Porter, who was presumably on the field to check on Brown, kicker Chris Boswell connected from 35-yards for what would be the game-winning play.
As long as Brown doesn’t suffer any setbacks over the course of the next few days, he should be able to practice on Wednesday, or by Thursday at the latest. Brown caught 7 passes for 119 yards in Saturday’s win over the Bengals in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
