Adam Jones Will Apologize to Antonio Brown if he Misses Denver Game

Never one to keep his thoughts to himself, Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones sounded off on the severity of Antonio Brown’s apparent concussion at the end of a Steelers-Bengals clash that truly put the “wild” in Wild Card.

Jones was quick to accuse Brown of faking the injury to earn his team a free fifteen yards and bring the Steelers to within the cusp of field goal range. With several days to digest the incident, the hot-headed Jones has admitted he will apologize to Brown if the star wide receiver is unable to take the field for Pittsburgh’s divisional round battle in Denver.

“I will send out an apology if he don’t play [sic],” Jones said of his upcoming appearance on Showtime’s Inside the NFL next Tuesday, in which he will be interviewed by Jets receiver Brandon Marshall. “But you and I know that when Saturday gets here, all of that is going out the window, man. He’s going to be cleared Friday. I promise you. 24 hours before the game.”

Ok, so maybe Pacman hasn’t cooled down as much as we’d like. Still, it’s somewhat of a more reserved stance compared to his comments directly after the game.

Jones cried foul to any reporter within earshot on Saturday night: “Man, that s**t was f***ing acting. He flopped. He deserves a Grammy Award for that. I know if you just got knocked out, you ain’t going to be able to wink and tell me you’re ok.”

First of all, Adam, Grammys are awarded to musicians, not actors. And secondly, it’s a little disturbing to see such a high-profile player as himself hold such a lax, dismissive attitude over what was clearly a concussive impact; Brown’s rag-dolling and subsequent unprotected collapse to the turf was proof enough of that.

Jones’ finger pointing was not done there. In a since-deleted video posted to Instagram, Pacman blamed – in no particular order – Brown, the referees and Steelers’ LB coach Joey Porter, who apparently did enough to elicit a violent reaction from Jones, and another 15-yard penalty that put the game winner beyond doubt.

While it is true that Burfict’s hit on Brown was not the deciding factor in a rollercoaster affair, Jones’ refusal to admit incompetence where it is due is the sign of a man who cannot accept defeat.