And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, just when you thought the Bengals had hit rock-bottom (both with their on-field behavior and ranting on social media), Adam Jones goes on a national radio show and all but accuses Antonio Brown of faking an injury. Yes, the same Antonio Brown who was down on the field for several minutes after taking a brutal shoulder to the head Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict. The same Antonio Brown who will likely be in concussion protocol this week according to several reports. Yeah, that guy.
The hit for those who haven’t seen it.
In an interview Monday morning with Dan Patrick, Adam Jones said Brown “deserved a Grammy” for his performance. Academy Award, Grammy, whatever, you know what he’s insinuating.
Adam Jones on @dpshow just now: “Man Antonio Brown was not hurt. I know he was faking. Go back and look at the play.”
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 11, 2016
Jones didn’t accuse the officials of being one-sided. He did however say, “they let the game get out of control.” Because, yes, they should have stopped Vontaze Burfict from running in the tunnel after sealing the game with an interception. But I digress.
Jones also added that nobody on the Bengals spoke to the media about Marvin Lewis and his “lack of institutional control.” This, despite a report from NFL.com’s Michael Silver.
And, truth be told, several players inside the Bengals’ locker room — none of whom wanted his name used, for obvious reasons — felt that Lewis deserved the criticism, citing a season-long lack of discipline among some defensive players in games, practices and meetings.
“Eventually,” one player said, “this (expletive) catches up to you.”
Said another: “You put up with enough (expletive) for enough time, guys think they can continually do it.”
This goes without saying but putting Adam Jones on a national radio show following a controversial meltdown loss was a bad idea. A no good, horrible, very bad idea.
