NFC Notes: Antonio Browns, Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Sean Burstyn, the lawyer for WR Antonio Brown, is still vehemently defending the receiver over the situation with the  Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“We were in the midst of scheduling an appointment with the Bucs’ chosen surgeon when we learned, via Twitter, that they terminated AB on Thursday for not seeing that very same surgeon,” Burstyn tweeted. “The Bucs picked an arbitrary appointment time outside of normal business hours early Thursday morning. They also fumbled around with a Wednesday afternoon appt at the last minute. (Bucs’ new interest in AB’s health was a surprise. Wasn’t AB ‘not a Buc’ on Sunday night?)”

“The Bucs did this because they know that Coach Arians’ on-the-field termination of AB was degrading, inhumane, abusive, and unlawful. So they tried covering it up using their latest dirty trick: ‘Surprise attack’ medical care that they [never] reasonably planned for AB to receive,” Burstyn tweeted. “This was pure gamesmanship to create a pretextual termination. All Antonio did was ask to be seen at a reasonable hour by a doctor with current medical records. When AB spoke up about his health this week, he was fired. On the field, then on Twitter.”

“The Bucs have used AB’s past to get out of the jam they put themselves in last Sunday,” Burstyn tweeted. “It’s the kind of manipulation that made Antonio write ‘I do not understand how people publicly claiming to be concerned about my mental health can do these things to me in private. Show me a request for medical records. We never got one. Did not tell us what the call was about. Said to call back at our ‘earliest convenience.’ We had an internal team discussion Thursday morning to go over options before calling back. By noon, they went ahead and took the most drastic action: fired.”

• Per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Buccaneers WR Antonio Brown is set to have ankle surgery on January 18. 

Falcons

• NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reports Falcons QB Matt Ryan was fined $10,300 for taunting the Bills last week.
• According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Falcons HC Arthur Smith has made it clear to owner Arthur Blank and GM Terry Fontenot that he wants Ryan as his quarterback in 2022. 
• Falcons owner Arthur Blank tested positive for COVID-19 and will be forced to miss his first game since becoming the owner of the franchise. (Adam Schefter)

Panthers

• Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer says “not so fast” when it comes to the idea of Panthers HC Matt Rhule being safe. He adds Rhule has to hire a “rock star” offensive coordinator to keep his job. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says Rhule has been vetting a list of offensive coordinator candidates for weeks and is on the same page about the need for a philosophical change on that side of the ball. 

Saints

• Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer says there’s a strong chance Saints DC Dennis Allen gets a head coaching job this year, as he’s held in high regard.