Finally, Antonio Brown started practicing with his Oakland Raiders. And he did that with the certified helmet. It is the main news in the NFL this Wednesday.
After all the problems Brown encountered with, regarding his helmet and frostbite injuries, the No.84 appeared at the team’s facilities ready to work.
This was the first time after a long time to see AB in full mode, which made Raiders head-coach Jon Gruden extremely happy.
“He’s all-in and ready to go,” Gruden said. “That’s my understanding. Really happy to have him out here. He’s a great player.”
Although he still has disputes with the league, as he recently filed a second grievance against the NFL, demanding the right to wear his old helmet, Brown wants to start creating chemistry with the team and be at Gruden’s disposal. Many of the experts and media analysists are suggesting that such a situation might be bad for the team. They are claiming that it might distract the team from their original goal, and that is to get prepared for the upcoming season.
Gruden ruled out that possibilities right at the start of the press conference.
“If you see a distracted football team, then I disagree with you,” Gruden said. “So, I’m not going to make any more of it than that.
It appears that the ultimatum set by Mike Mayock, the general manager of the Raiders, gave results in the end. Mayock publicly called out Brown, demanding a clear answer, is he “all-in or all-out” with the Raiders.
The player and the player’s agent Drew Rosenhaus immediately reacted and expressed their dedication and loyalty to the franchise. Recent developments are suggesting that AB realized the situation and started behaving rationally. But he still isn’t giving up on his fight for wearing his old helmet.
Despite wearing a new model which is certified, Brown still hopes that he can reach some sort of agreement with the league about his old piece of equipment. For coach Gruden, there are no debates about whether he supports his player or not.
“This grievance thing is no laughing matter; it’s something that’s really important to him. And there’s nothing wrong with supporting your players, on things that they believe in.”
The Raiders are heading for Winnipeg, to meet with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. According to Gruden’s words, the entire team will reach Canada, but he doesn’t believe that all the starters are going to participate.
As for Brown, he feels fresh and ready to roll. In his latest interviews and posts on the social networks, the best wide receiver in the league stated that all the injuries and issues are behind him. He underlined that his physical shape is excellent, as he worked individually during his absence from the training camp.
Now he wants to focus only on work, and nothing else. Despite all the media headlines and the publicity, AB has nothing on his mind than plain, hard work with the Raiders.
Raiders clash with the Packers this Thursday at 8 pm local time.
