Antonio Brown has created a firestorm of controversy over the past 48 hours. First, there was his in-game pouting after he failed to get in rhythm with Ben Roethlisbeger. Then, there was the sideline shouting at offensive coordinator, Randy Fichtner. Then, there was Brown quickly exiting Pittsburgh's locker room after the team's 42-37 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs before the media was allowed to enter. Brown then posted his now infamous tweet that included the words "trade me" after a former Steelers' staffer suggested that Brown's success in the NFL is largely due to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. On Tuesday, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Brown did not show up to the team's facility on Monday, something that Mike Tomlin confirmed during his Tuesday press conference. Tomlin added that he will meet with Brown to discuss several things that will surely include his controversial tweet. Tomlin also confirmed that Brown has not asked to be traded. Shortly after Tomlin's press conference concluded, Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, issued the following statement that was released through ESPN's Adam Schefter. "The tweet yesterday was not in reference to anything other than Antonio responding to a person he knows. It was not directed towards a trade, or wanting to be trading. Any idea he was asking for a trade is not accurate. “Antonio had a personal matter. I talked to the team about it. His issue was unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. Third, AB has an incredible drive to win. He just wants to win. That's all that that is. "That's not anything more than him encouraging his coaches and teammates to win. And that's what his entire focus is on. Any notion, any speculation otherwise, can be put to bed. This is a non-story that has been blown out of proportion. We can end this right here and now." Brown's tweet on Monday isn't an indiction that he wants to play anywhere else. It is, however, an indication that he's tired of the way he's portrayed by the local media. Last Friday, during his post practice media scrum, Brown himself wondered out loud why the local media chooses to -- in his opinion -- write about him in a negative light while not paying attention to the positive things he does both on and off the field. While Brown is right to a point, many writers that cover the NFL and the Steelers, this one included, have written about the positive things that Brown has done during his time with the Steelers. Unfortunately for Brown, the media will also write about the negative things that he does, both on and off the field. While Brown is indeed human and is certainly well within his rights to be upset with some of the negative coverage surrounding him, extreme media coverage is something that comes with the territory, especially when you're arguably the best player on one of the most popular teams in all of professional sports. It also doesn't help Brown that he is a frequent presence on social media while posting almost daily on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Simply put, Brown would be better served ignoring social media. Instead, he should be focusing on helping the Steelers right the ship after a 0-1-1 start. There's plenty right there to keep him and his teammates busy.<doc-sep>Joe Robbins/Getty Images Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday Antonio Brown has not demanded a trade and will address the wideout's social media use with him. "I'll address that and address that very directly with him," Tomlin said. "But I'll leave that between he and I." Tomlin said he did not feel it's "appropriate" to discuss Brown's social media use publicly. The Pro Bowler tweeted at a former employee to "trade me" after the employee was critical of Brown following Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Drew Rosenhaus, Brown's agent, addressed the tweet in a statement to Adam Schefter, in which he said it is "not accurate" that the wide receiver wants to be dealt: Brown was visibly upset throughout the game and got into an argument with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. He finished with nine receptions for 67 yards on 17 targets, second on the team behind JuJu Smith-Schuster. Tight end Jesse James led the Steelers with 138 receiving yards. Ben Roethlisberger said on his weekly radio appearance on 93.7 The Fan that he doesn't believe Brown wants to be traded. “That’s all these guys know, from the first phone they’ve had,” Roethlisberger said. “If you want to tweet things that’s fine, but where you get into trouble is responding...I don’t think he wants to be traded." Video Play Button Videos you might like Brown was absent from Steelers facilities Monday. Tomlin indicated that was not an excused absence or something he expected. With Le'Veon Bell remaining away from the team due to a contractual holdout, the Steelers now have their best two position players at odds with the franchise. That's not exactly a great start for a team that entered 2018 with Super Bowl hopes.<doc-sep>Getty Images Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown left the locker room before talking to reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, but he surfaced on Monday to respond to a critic on Twitter. Brown was spotted in a heated conversation with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner had finished the day with nine catches for 67 yards while being targeted 17 times by Ben Roethlisberger. That leaves Brown with 18 catches for 160 yards on the year, which is well off his standard from previous seasons. Some combination of those things led a Twitter user whose bio indicates he used to work for the Steelers to opine that Brown should “thank his lucky stars” that he is on a team with Roethlisberger and that he wouldn’t have put up such prolific numbers over his career had he landed with a different team. Brown fired back on Monday. “Trade me let’s find out,” Brown wrote. A trade involving Brown seems highly unlikely for many reasons and there’s no reason at present to think the tweet reflects Brown’s actual desire for one. It’s another piece to what’s been an unhappy and drama-filled start to the season in Pittsburgh.<doc-sep>
AP Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown didn’t show up to work on Monday and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that he looks forward to “discussing that and other things” with the receiver. The other things may include a tweet that Brown sent to a former Steelers employee saying “trade me let’s find out” in reference to a tweet suggesting Brown would not be as successful if he played with a quarterback other than Ben Roethlisberger. Tomlin said Tuesday that Brown has not requested a trade and Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus said the same while also addressing his client’s absence on Monday. “The tweet yesterday was not in reference to anything other than Antonio responding to a person he knows,” Rosenhaus said, via Adam Schefter of ESPN. “It was not directed towards a trade, or wanting to be trading. Any idea he was asking for a trade is not accurate. Antonio had a personal matter. I talked to the team about it. His issue was unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. Third, AB has an incredible drive to win. He just wants to win. That’s all that that is. That’s not anything more than him encouraging his coaches and teammates to win. And that’s what his entire focus is on. Any notion, any speculation otherwise, can be put to bed. This is a non-story that has been blown out of proportion. We can end this right here and now.” This isn’t the first time drama’s surrounded Brown’s use of social media and it isn’t the first drama of a Steelers season that’s been long on it through two weeks of the regular season. A win on Monday against the Buccaneers would be the best way to ensure that things really do die down, but it will be almost a week before we know if that’s how things are going to play out.