Antonio Brown knows he can be selfish about wanting the football. He knows it might be irritating to his teammates and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when he complains, either in the huddle or on the sideline, to throw him the ball.
It is almost a weekly occurrence.
How bad can it be?
Roethlisberger has told him to “shut up” on more than one occasion on the field. During the 2015 season, after a game in which Brown could be seen gesturing his displeasure on the field, even the most mild-mannered Steelers player of them all had heard enough.
Former tight end Heath Miller came over to the All-Pro receiver during practice and told him to “stop complaining about not getting the ball.”
Brown has told each of those stories himself, an indication he is well aware how his desire to want the ball, at times, can be annoying to his teammates. Monday mornings after a game, it is almost a ritual how Brown comes to the coaches and apologizes for his selfish behavior. He is aware how his actions can be interpreted.
But, in his mind, he feels the best way for the Steelers to win is to throw him the ball. The bigger the game, the more often Brown keeps asking for the ball. If the Steelers are trailing in the game, the louder and more frequent the demands become.
A report on the NFL Network after the AFC championship game loss to the New England Patriots said Brown “hung his head” after DeAngelo Williams scored the first touchdown, suggesting Brown was upset he did not score because he was open in the end zone. But the replay clearly shows Brown not even running a pattern on the play and throwing both arms in the air to signal touchdown and celebrate when Williams scored.
Even if the story were true — or even if it occurred at another point in the game and not on the touchdown — it’s not an uncommon occurrence.
Point is, while Brown’s behavior might, at times, be annoying, it is not a problem or a divisive element among his teammates. He is the most productive receiver in the league since 2013 — he has had four consecutive seasons of 100-plus catches, tying an NFL record — and is coming off a season in which he had 14 touchdown catches, including an AFC-best 12 during the regular season. That alone is what fuels his desire to want the ball, to make plays, to help his team win.
What’s more, Brown is a likable person who generally is regarded as the hardest-working player on the team, maybe in the league. He does not get into trouble off the field and doesn’t have drug-related issues that have befallen other teammates such as wide receiver Martavis Bryant and even running back Le’Veon Bell. He is not viewed in the locker room in the same manner as other receivers who came to be known as “coach-killers” — Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson, for example.
Did he go too far with his Facebook Live video? Of course he did. Did he deserve the public rebuke from coach Mike Tomlin and the veiled threat from his coach that sometimes great players bounce to other teams because of repeated poor behavior? Yes, he did. But is Brown a problem in the locker room? No, he is not.
An annoyance with his selfishness at times? Perhaps. But even he will admit to that.
Harrison’s usage must change
If the Steelers bring outside linebacker James Harrison back for another season, as Tomlin indicated they are interested in doing, adjustments will have to be made to how the defense employs him.
Harrison proved to himself and coaches that, even at age 38, the heavy workload of playing nearly every snap the last six weeks did not have an adverse effect on his body or his production.
In addition to playing all but one defensive snap in the final three games of the regular season, Harrison played 174 of 198 snaps (88 percent) in the postseason. And, after leading the team with five sacks in the regular season, he had 2½ more in the postseason and also drew the key holding penalty on the two-point conversion play in Kansas City.
But Harrison dropped into coverage too many times against the New England Patriots — 15 of 44 plays when quarterback Tom Brady went back to pass — and was even asked to line against receivers such as Julian Edelman. Asking Harrison to do that creates a terrible mismatch, and Edelman ran past Harrison for a 26-yard catch in one instance.
Harrison appears to be as good as ever against the run and still has enough as a pass rusher to lead the team in sacks. But asking him to drop into coverage, especially when he is going to be 39, is unwise, not to mention unfair.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: January 26, 2017, 4:17 a.m.