Latest On Antonio Brown, Patriots

While the possibility of Antonio Brown landing on the commissioner’s exempt list remains, the Patriots are tentatively planning on playing their high-profile acquisition Sunday against the Dolphins, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link).

Brown practiced both Wednesday and Thursday and appears on track to make his Patriots debut in Miami. The league has not provided any indication a move barring Brown from playing will come by Sunday, per RapSheet.

The 31-year-old wide receiver has been accused of rape in civil court. The NFL plans to meet with the accuser, former Brown trainer Britney Taylor, next week. Taylor alleges Brown sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. Brown has denied the accusations.

These allegations have marked the latest in an astounding run of drama for Brown this year. Neither the NFL nor the Patriots knew about this until Tuesday, per Yahoo.com’s Charles Robinson, who adds Roger Goodell and league brass have discussed how to proceed with Brown. While Robinson reports the NFL would like to move quickly on this, no decision on Brown’s Week 2 status has emerged two days after the allegations surfaced.

Brown’s guarantees are also indeed in jeopardy. After a Wednesday report surfaced about the Patriots being able to void the $9MM guarantee, Robinson confirms a clause pertaining to Brown potentially “undermining the public image of the club” would allow the team to do this. The Raiders voided Brown’s $29MM-plus in guarantees last week, leading to Brown’s Bay Area departure.

View Comments (41)