ALAMEDA Womens Derek Carr Jersey , Calif. (AP) — Star receiver Antonio Brown was sent away from the Oakland Raiders four days before the season opener amid reports he could be suspended over a confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock.Mayock said at the beginning of practice Thursday that Brown wasn’t at the Raiders facility and wouldn’t be practicing a day after posting a letter from the GM on social media detailing nearly $54,000 in fines.“I’ll make it short and sweet,” Mayock said. “Antonio Brown is not in the building today, won’t be practicing. I don’t have any more information for you right now. When I have some and it becomes appropriate you guys will all get it. But that’s it for today.”ESPN reported earlier Thursday that the two had a confrontation the previous day over the posting of the letter and that the Raiders plan to suspend Brown. Teams have the right under the collective bargaining agreement to suspend players up to four games for conduct detrimental to the team.A suspension would also void the more than $29 million in guarantees over the next two seasons contained in Brown’s contract with the Raiders.“I’m not going to get into any of that stuff right now,” coach Jon Gruden said. “We’ll have an official announcement later.”Gruden said he was frustrated by the situation but that the team is ready to start the season without Brown if necessary. The Raiders spent most of training camp without Brown on the field as he dealt with frost bite on his feet and a fight with the NFL over his helmet.“We’ve been going out for practice every day and we adjusted without him,” Gruden said. “We never knew sometimes when he was going to practice. So we’re good at it. We’re good at adapting and adjusting. Unfortunately. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed.”Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told NFL Network that he has been in contact with the Raiders and Brown and hopes to be able to avoid a suspension.“My objective is to get things worked out between Antonio and the Raiders so he can fulfill his contract and do what they brought him in to do,” Rosenhaus told the network. “I don’t think it’s too late to salvage that relationship.”This is just the latest development in a dramatic first season in Oakland for Brown, who has yet to step on the field for a game with his new team.The Raiders acquired the game’s most prolific receiver after he wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh. Oakland gave up only a third- and fifth-round pick for the four-time All-Pro receiver and gave him a hefty raise with a new three-year contract worth $50.125 million.But Brown was unable to practice at the start of training camp after getting frost bite on his feet during a cryotherapy accident in France.Brown was activated July 28 and took part in one walkthrough and part of one practice before leaving the team to get treatment for his feet and to fight the NFL and the NFLPA over his helmet.Brown lost two grievances with the league in his attempt to use an old helmet now banned for safety reasons. He skipped practice on Aug. 18, prompting Mayock to issue an ultimatum for Brown to be “all in or all out” and also to hand him a $40,000 fine.Brown returned to the team the following day but then missed a mandatory walkthrough before an exhibition game in Winnipeg on Aug. 22, leading to a second fine of $13 Antonio Brown Raiders Jersey ,950.Brown publicized those fines on his Instagram account Wednesday. Brown also wrote on the account: “WHEN YOUR OWN TEAM WANT TO HATE BUT THERE’S NO STOPPING ME NOW DEVIL IS A LIE. EVERYONE GOT TO PAY THIS YEAR SO WE CLEAR.”That apparently prompted the latest run-in with Mayock and now leaves Brown’s status with the team in doubt ahead of Monday night’s opener at home against the Denver Broncos.“I think moving forward everything can work out,” Rosenhaus said. “We’ve had some bumps in the road but he’s had an incredible career. We had some setbacks recently but I’m confident we can get back to doing the great things that the Raiders signed him to do. That’s my intention.”Brown had several issues in Pittsburgh as well, leading to the team’s decision to trade him even though he topped 100 receptions and 1,200 yards receiving in each of the past six seasons.The relationship reached a breaking point in late December. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin benched Brown during the regular-season finale against Cincinnati after the wide receiver went radio silent in the final 48 hours before the game.Brown arrived in a fur coat, hung out for a half and then disappeared from view until well after his teammates had cleaned out their lockers following a 9-6-1 finish that left Pittsburgh out of the playoffs for the first time since 2013.When Brown did resurface, he began engaging in a series of increasingly antagonistic acts designed to expedite his departure. He went on Instagram with former Steelers linebacker James Harrison during Tomlin’s season wrap-up press conference. He decried quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s “owner’s mentality” and chastised Tomlin for disciplining him in Week 17. ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock were invited by Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis for an event in Las Vegas last week, a year before the team’s planned move to Sin City.The Raiders coach and general manager were set for a night on the town with their wives when those plans got altered with the news that the NFL’s most prolific receiver, Antonio Brown, was available from Pittsburgh.Just 24 hours later, Mayock had completed his first major move since leaving his old role as television draft analyst to join an NFL front office and all those plans the Raiders had made were overturned.“The wild card was all of a sudden understanding that this guy might be available,” Mayock said this week. “That was the wild card. That was not in our free agent planning. When all of a sudden we realized we might have an opportunity to compete for his services, it changed everything.”The Raiders seemed poised for a rebuilding year after dealing away foundation pieces Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper last year in trades that netted three additional first-round picks the next two years. But the trade for Brown set them up to begin a spending spree that the Raiders hope can make them a contender in their final season in Oakland before the move to the desert.The Raiders also gave big-ticket deals to free agent tackle Trent Brown Womens Bo Jackson Jersey , safety Lamarcus Joyner and receiver Tyrell Williams and have committed more than $200 million in contracts just six months after trading Mack to Chicago because they didn’t want to give him a mega-contract as the highest-paid defensive player in football.“We’ve gotten better, we have some resources in the draft that can continue that process and as I’ve said all along, I don’t think you can rush this,” Gruden said. “You have to do what you deem is right. Players don’t become available all the time. You can’t make all the necessary improvements. It takes a little bit of time. But we’re confident that we’re heading in the right direction.”At least the Raiders now appear to be moving forward after taking a significant step back in Gruden’s first season. The team never recovered from the deal reached a week before the opener that sent Mack to the Bears for a package that included two first-round picks after he held out in search of a lucrative long-term contract the Raiders weren’t willing to offer.After starting last season 1-5, Gruden then sent Cooper to Dallas for another first-round pick and the rebuild was on. Oakland finished 4-12 just two seasons after breaking through with 12 wins and the team’s only playoff berth since 2002.Plenty of holes remain on the roster even after this week’s big spending spree with the most glaring being at pass rusher where Mack has yet to be replaced. Oakland has only one edge rusher under contract for 2019 in Arden Key, who had just one sack as a rookie.The Raiders finished with a league-low 13 sacks last season — 17 fewer than the next-worst team. Oakland still would like to find an edge rusher in free agency and also figures to target that position the draft when the team has picks No. 4, 24, 27 and 35 in the first two rounds.Mayock and Gruden also are looking for more help in the secondary, a playmaking linebacker, and possible help on offense at tight end, running back and guard.Filling all those holes in the draft and the end of free agency seems far-fetched, but getting a good start on the task will give the fans in Oakland a more desirable product to watch this season and create excitement in Las Vegas for the team’s planned arrival in 2020.“There is a lot of history here, so I definitely wanted to come and be a part of the history and I also wanted to be a part of new beginnings Womens Antonio Brown Jersey ,” said Joyner, who was attracted by the move. “Hopefully we do a lot of great things this year and make Nevada even more excited to have us.”The Raiders hope the move to Las Vegas, where they will play in a fancy new stadium rather than the rundown Coliseum and have a more modern facility, will make the team a wanted destination for free agents in the future.A recent poll of agents by Sports Illustrated’s “The MMQB” listed Oakland as the second-least desirable team to join in free agency, ahead of only the Buffalo Bills, but that figures to change next season with the lack of a state tax in Nevada only making the location more desirable for players.But those factors won’t be as important in the future as Gruden and Mayock hitting on the draft picks to replenish the roster and make the team a contender once again.“I think the reason for me wanting to come here was to advance to Nevada with coach Gruden,” Joyner said. “I have come into contact with him throughout my career and he has always expressed to me how highly he thought of me as a player. When it comes to the state income taxes and stuff, that’s the kind of conversations you have with your wife and your kids, but that didn’t have anything to play into me wanting to join this great organization.”
Oakland before the move to the desert.The
Ñòðàíèöà: 1
Ñîîáùåíèé 1 ñòðàíèöà 1 èç 1
Ñòðàíèöà: 1