Brown breaks silence: 'Obviously I don't want to be traded'

Antonio Brown finally broke his silence Thursday following a whirlwind few days that included a tweet some interpreted as a request to be traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Obviously I don't want to be traded," the superstar receiver told reporters in the Steelers' locker room Thursday, according to Sean Gentille of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The tweet, which immediately went viral, was in response to a former Steelers public relations employee doubting the six-time Pro Bowler's ability to replicate his production elsewhere.

Trade me let's find out https://t.co/4OeepI78zy

- Antonio Brown (@AB84) September 17, 2018

Brown posted the message Monday, the same day he unexplainably didn't show up for work. He chalked his absence up to a "personal issue."

Brown's disappearance, however, came a day after he got into a verbal spat on the sideline with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. Brown denied his outburst was related to his numbers.

"Nobody cares about your stats if you're not winning," said Brown, who had nine receptions for 67 yards on 17 targets in the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, via NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala. "I don't count stats. You guys do that ... my stats will take care of themselves."

Brown also ducked out of the locker room Sunday without speaking to the media.

"I was pissed off we lost," he said. " ... I signed up to win. I work extremely hard, I put in 20 hours a day of my life and my body, away from my family to win. And when we don't, yeah, I'm pissed off. Because I take it serious."

The Steelers are 0-1-1 entering Week 3, where they'll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.

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