The Antonio Brown era has gotten off to a rocky start for the Oakland Raiders after he has been able to get little practice time in due to a number of issues.
The biggest one being the botched cryotherapy procedure that resulted in him getting gruesome frostbite on his feet. To make matters worse, Brown also found himself pleading with the NFL to allow him to keep his old helmet.
Although it looks like he was ultimately able to get his helmet issue resolved after losing his grievance, there are still plenty of questions regarding his availability moving forward. Brown has acknowledged that the blisters have made it difficult for him to go full speed at practice.
He even obliged by showing audiences his current condition during the latest episod of ‘Hard Knocks,’ via Bleacher Report:
“Are you sure you wanna see it?” 😬 AB showed off his injured feet last night… *NSFW* @brgridiron#HardKnocks is every Tuesday on @HBO pic.twitter.com/LeBsszhcg7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 14, 2019
While the situation regarding Brown’s feet has made for some good TV, it has only served as an unnecessary distraction for the Raiders heading into the 2019 NFL season. Regardless, it will continue to remain as one of the main storylines of the show as long as he continues to work his way back from the injury.
The Raiders made quite the investment to bring Brown over from the Pittsburgh Steelers to serve as their No. 1 option in the passing game after a falling out with his former team. Although there was no doubt about his talent as one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers, there was already plenty of speculation regarding how he would fit alongside the pairing of head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr on offense.
Unfortunately, it is safe to say that they still have plenty of work to do before the regular season with all the setbacks that Brown has suffered this offseason. Not only did the issue with his helmet bring his playing future into question, but his injured feet have made it difficult for him to log in any meaningful work in practice thus far.
Despite all that has transpired as of late, the 31-year-old does appear to be anxious to get back to work and is optimistic that all the mishaps are behind him. The only question now is when he will be able to return to All-Pro form and kick things up a notch by going full-throttle at practice without anything holding him back.
Brown’s boisterous personality will undoubtedly continue to serve as one of the main talking points both in the show and the 2019 campaign.
