There were plenty of big moments in Saturday night’s Steelers victory over the Bengals, but it’s hard to argue that Ben Roethlisberger’s pass to Antonio Brown late in the fourth quarter wasn’t the biggest of the game.
Brown was hit in the head by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, drawing a penalty and staying down on the ground with what was diagnosed as a concussion. While Brown was making his way off the field, Bengals cornerback Adam Jones drew another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for what he says was a response to trash talk from Steelers linebacker Joey Porter while Porter was on the field ostensibly to check on Brown’s condition.
Jones made his displeasure with Porter plain on Instagram after the game and repeated his complaints about Porter being on the field in a conversation with Michael Silver of NFL Media a bit later. Jones also shared his belief that Brown was only pretending to be hurt.
“Man, that [expletive] was [expletive] acting. He flopped. He needs a [expletive] Academy Award for that performance,” Jones said.
If Brown was acting, someone should offer him a three-picture deal because he looked just like a player concussed by a blow to the head.
While Jones defended himself and Burfict, others in the Bengals locker room weren’t so thrilled. Tackle Andrew Whitworth said that players need to do a better job of controlling their emotions and another who didn’t want to be named complained about the leeway given by Marvin Lewis and his coaching staff.
“You put up with enough [expletive] for enough time, guys think they can continually do it,” the Bengals player said.
There have been suggestions that Saturday night’s meltdown could cost Lewis his job, something that should make for an interesting few days in Cincinnati.
