Buccaneers: Star wide receiver spotted at practice with crutch

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown was spotted at Buccaneers practice on Wednesday watching from the sidelines leaning on a crutch.

For the second straight week, Brown has not been practicing with his Bucs teammates. It really is a shame, considering his career renaissance was really taking shape until he was bitten by the old injury bug. The thing is, that’s going to happen every now and then to a wide receiver of his age.

There are several silver linings in this playbook, however. First, and perhaps most encouraging, Brown was only seen leaning on one crutch for support. It wasn’t like he needed two to be mobile. Had he needed two crutches, then this would be a more panic-worthy issue.

The other thing to take into account is, AB has been banged up before but was continuing to produce. He was even starting to look as close to the old AB as humanely possible. He was also starting to look like Tom Brady’s favorite target, and he certainly has plenty of quality options to choose from in that department.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing for Buccaneers fans to keep in mind though is that the offense has been humming just fine. Brown missed this past week’s game against the Chicago Bears, and the offense was an absolute demolition derby. Granted, it was the Bears, but their defense has some quality players and is a unit that is nothing to sneeze at.

While you would love to see the Bucs at full strength when they take on the New Orleans Saints (and Jameis Winston) for the first time in 2021, the fact of the matter is this all seems to be precautionary. Antonio Brown will be just fine, and perhaps most importantly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be just fine.