Tuesday 19 February 2019 10:05, UK
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has accused quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of having an "owner mentality".
Brown has requested a trade from the Steelers and took to Twitter on Saturday to answer questions, in what amounted to his first expanded public comments since a falling out with the franchise which has left the star receiver's future in doubt.
The four-time Pro Bowler missed the Steelers season finale against the Bengals in contentious fashion, and reports have claimed that the incident followed a dispute with Roethlisberger.
Asked by a Twitter user about the root of his conflict with the quarterback, Brown responded "No conflict just a matter of respect! Mutual respect! He has a owner mentality like he can call out anybody including coaches.
"Players know but they can't say anything about it otherwise they meal ticket gone. It's a dirty game within a game. #truth."
Brown also criticised Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin for the way he handled the player during the course of the final week of the regular season.
The team sent Brown home two days before the Bengals game and ordered him to get some rest and have his knee examined.
Tomlin said afterwards that Brown did not have the exam and did not communicate with the team until early on the morning of the day of the game when his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, contacted Tomlin and said Brown would be available to play.
Brown arrived at the stadium in time but did not dress, after he was made inactive.
He watched the first half from the sideline but was not around after the Steelers won 16-13 - which was not enough to get them into the playoffs.
Brown tweeted: "After the coach tell the team I quit while nursing some bumps then invite me to watch the show with same guys thinking I quit.
"I can not stand with that! I'm the bad guy doe (sic) we miss post season think about it."
Sky Sports coverage of the NFL will continue through the off-season as we track the player moves and the storylines in the build-up to the 100th year of the NFL - and we will have all three days of the NFL Draft covered in April.
