TAMPA, Fla. Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not have a wide receiver Antonio Brown for the NFC Championship game in the Green Bay Packers, coach Bruce Arians announced on Friday.
“I just talked to him this morning, and to put him on the plane and fly there and make him swell doesn’t make sense,” Arians said. “He was not as close as we had hoped, so we will get him ready for the next one.”
Brown suffered a knee injury in the playoffs in the New Orleans Saints and played only 27 snaps. He did not practice this week.
Arians described him as ‘day-to-day’, but Brown could not progress fast enough in his healing.
The former All-Pro received the Buccaneers the last five weeks of the regular season to receive targets and a 36-yard catch in their game card victory over Washington. Brown also has experience playing in two league championship games and a Super Bowl, something few other players on this list have outside of Tom Brady.
“It sounds natural to Antonio. We wish he could be there with us,” Brady said. ‘Other guys will have to act and do the job. I have a lot of confidence in the guys who were not so much there when AB was there. ‘
According to Arians, he believes Scotty Miller and newcomer Tyler Johnson will be able to perform. Johnson had an important third catch catch for 15 yards against the Saints. Miller scored just 29 yards against New Orleans, but he was on the receiving end of Brady’s best deep play of the season – a 33-yard touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders and a 48-yard dash against the Minnesota Vikings.
“I think if you just look at last week, when Scotty and Tyler made those big plays in the fourth quarter, the confidence that the coaches and Tom have in those guys just because they deserved it. Their achievements deserved it,” Arians said: “Antonio will be missed, but we have capable people who are engaging.”
The Buccaneers will get Vita Vea back, as a source told Jeremy Fowler, ESPN, that the defensive attack for Sunday’s game will be activated. Vea returned to practice for the first time this week since breaking his ankle in Week 5.
“He looked really good. He’s been running for almost three weeks and had a good workout yesterday and a good workout today,” Arians said.