HEADLINE

Report: Patriots’ Brown makes trip to Miami, expected to play

Field Level Media

September 14, 2019 at 5:43 pm.

Antonio Brown is heading to Miami with the intention of playing for the New England Patriots in this weekend’s road game against the Dolphins, the NFL Network reported on Saturday.

Brown, the subject of a civil suit by his former trainer alleging rape and sexual assault, was under consideration for the Commissioner’s Exempt List, according to USA Today. Commissioner Roger Goodell will not enact his authority in the matter at this time, but the NFL is expected to interview the woman and Brown as part of its investigation.

Brown has participated in practices this week with the Patriots (1-0) after being released last weekend by the Oakland Raiders.

Whether Brown actually sees the field against the Dolphins (0-1) is in question, as coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Friday that the 31-year-old had a “long way to go.”

“Obviously, he’s not familiar with our offense,” Belichick said. “The systems that he’s been in have been quite different. Jon (Gruden, Raiders coach) does the West Coast offense, which there’s very little carryover from their system to our system. Not bad or good — just we’ve had players before. It’s just not all going to carry over, and a similar thing in Pittsburgh.

“You know, he’s working hard to pick it up, and we’re working hard to get it to him. … We try to get him caught up to speed as quickly as you can. It’s too much ground to make up in a few days, but we do the best we can and we’ll see how it goes.”

Brown inked a reported one-year, $15 million deal that includes a $9 million signing bonus and a $20 million team option for 2020 last Saturday after his release from the Raiders.

After bailing on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2018 regular-season finale and sitting out Week 1 this year, Brown could play for the first time since Dec. 23 if he faces the Dolphins.

— Field Level Media

ALL  |  NFL  |  College Football  |  MLB  |  NBA