Antonio Brown out Week 3 after being placed on COVID list

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown has been ruled out for their Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams. 

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday, they’ll need all the help they can get.

Unfortunately, the help they would normally get from clutch talent Antonio Brown won’t be there, as the favored Tom Brady target has been ruled out to play in Los Angeles.

The team announced on Wednesday that Brown had tested positive for COVID-19 and was subsequently placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. As of Saturday afternoon, it appears that the virus has continued to sideline Brown for this week’s game.

Antonio Brown a costly miss in Week 3 as he remains out with COVID-19

While Brady has a bevy of wide receivers at his disposal, Brown is unique in his ability to read routes and mentally connect with Brady for clutch receptions.

During the Super Bowl, Brown juked Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu for a critical first-half touchdown. The play perfectly demonstrated Brown’s contribution to the team, which many — even head coach Bruce Arians — debated prior to his arrival.

In fact, when the Buccaneers played the Rams last year in one of their most challenging games, Brown was actually the team’s top receiver with eight receptions for 57 yards. Brown’s presence helps to draw attention away from Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, making the unique wide receiver balance important to maintain.

While wide receivers Scotty Miller and Tyler Johnson are there to fill the void this Sunday, they remain incomparable to the twelfth-year veteran with Hall of Fame talent. Thus far, Brown is second on the team in terms of yards with 138 through two games, nabbing deep passes as well as short completions.

Is Antonio Brown vaccinated?

Before the season started, the Buccaneers announced that 100 percent of the locker room had received the COVID-19 vaccine. This means that Brown is vaccinated, but has caught a breakthrough case of the virus.

According to NFL rules, once Brown is asymptomatic, he will need two negative tests 24 hours apart in order to return to the field. Brown, like all of his fellow Buccaneers and the team’s entire coaching staff, is fully vaccinated.