Jones will apologize if Brown misses Divisional Round

Jones didn’t give much of an answer except to say Steelers outside linebackers coach Joey Porter never should have been on the field.

While many blamed it on the intense emotions of the wildcard game, the league said that he had “repeated violations of safety-related playing rules” when they handed down the penalty.

Sceptical about Antonio Brown’s alleged concussion, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones said he will apologise if the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver misses the divisional round game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Cincinnati Bengals’ Vontaze Burfict (55) runs into Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown (84) during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, in Cincinnati.

Jones also shot down reports that Burfict was intentionally trying to injure Brown.

“Unfortunately, he can’t have that kind of blow with the guy that’s receiving the pass”, Lewis said.

Burfict leads the league with 14 unnecessary roughness penalties since 2012 and has been fined for incidents in each of the last three seasons. “I’ll leave the door ajar for him”.

“I know if you just got knocked out you’re not gonna be able to wink at me and tell me you’re OK, I know that”, Jones added.

He received a $50,000 fine for a hit on Baltimore Ravens tight end Maxx Williams away from the ball in the final game of the regular season.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the suspension may be appealed within three business days. Burfict had already been fined $69,454 on December 18 for a low hit on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and two other infractions in the Steelers 33-20 victory in Week 14. Burfict also injured Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulder, although that was deemed to be a clean hit. “And then we’re going to go and play Pittsburgh again next year and it’s all going to come up again unfortunately and we’re going to have to work our way through it”.

Burfict was suspended the first three games of next season for the hit.