Gruden: Plan is for Brown to play Monday night

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Antonio Brown will suit up and play for the Oakland Raiders in their season opener against the Denver Broncos on Monday night.

“That’s the plan. That’s the plan, yes,” coach Jon Gruden said before Friday’s practice.

“Antonio is back today,” Gruden said. “We’re really excited about that. Ready to move on. He’s had a lot of, obviously, time to think about things. We’re happy to have him back, and I know Raider Nation is excited about that, too.”

Earlier Friday, a source told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that Brown had issued “an emotional apology” during a team meeting that morning.

That apology came on the heels of a confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock on Wednesday, in which disparaging language was used by Brown, a source told Anderson.

A Raiders source confirmed Brown was unhappy with a fine levied by the team and, seeing Mayock watching practice, walked over and initiated an exchange with the GM. The Raiders source confirmed information from another league source who said Brown called Mayock a “cracker” and unleashed a barrage of “cuss words” during the altercation.

The team source told Anderson that Mayock tried to keep his cool and defuse the situation.

“[Mayock] was like, ‘I’m cool, I understand your displeasure,'” the source said. “[Mayock] sort of just, like … just walked away because he saw it escalate.”

The source said the confrontation escalated quickly but never appeared to be getting physical, and players, including linebacker Vontaze Burfict, attempted to separate Brown from the situation in order to calm him down.

Speaking to ESPN’s Dianna Russini on Friday, Brown denied using the word “cracker” when addressing Mayock. “Everything has been blown out of proportion,” Brown said.

“I spoke with Mike Mayock one-on-one, man-to-man,” he added.

Brown spoke to reporters shortly after Gruden confirmed he would be playing on Monday and issued a public apology.

“I’m excited to be out here today,” Brown said. “I want to apologize to my teammates, the organization. Enough talk, man. I’m excited to be out here with my teammates, grateful for all the fans. I’m excited to be part of the Raiders and I’ll see you guys soon.”

Earlier, Brown issued the apology to his teammates, with team captains Derek Carr, Rodney Hudson, Tahir Whitehead, Lamarcus Joyner and Burfict “standing with him,” a source told Anderson. Afterward, the team “treated him like a family member,” the source said.

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Antonio Brown apologizes and says he’s ready to get back out on the field for the Raiders.

“He said some things, we said some things and at the end of it, we were ready to move on,” Carr said.

Added Whitehead: “In general, you’ve got to support guys in their time of need. For us, we just felt like it was important to just be there for him.

“We just want to win football games. The only way we can do that is if we have everybody pulling in the same direction. So that’s all we want at the end of the day — make sure we have everyone on board and guys that are here, we’re going to go out there and get it all for each other.”

The source told Anderson it appeared Brown had read the letter about the fine — which he posted on Instagram — before Wednesday’s practice and was angry.

In the letter, Mayock informed Brown that he was being fined $13,950 for missing a walk-through on Aug. 22, an unexcused absence. The letter also mentioned the team previously had fined Brown $40,000 for missing camp on Aug. 18 — the day the GM issued an “all-in or all-out” ultimatum to Brown.

“When he saw [Mayock on Wednesday], he was like, ‘I can address it,'” the team source told Anderson.

The Raiders source said of Brown: “Nobody works as hard. Nobody loves the game as much, but [it] seems like there is something that is distracting him from his love that [he] can’t control.”

Running back Jalen Richard said Friday the team captains told Brown they supported him but added, “We all got to have a line of communication amongst one another. At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to keep us together as a whole, because … we get coached but we’re out there fighting for each other.

“And if we can’t do that, then it’s never going to work. So we just expressed that and everyone took it well and, you know, we had to knock on wood at the end of it.”

On Thursday, Mayock told reporters that Brown was not at the facility and would not be practicing. He did not confirm or deny that Brown would be suspended.

Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN’s Get Up! on Friday that he continues to hope there is a solution to the situation.

“Right now I think his relationship with Coach Gruden is good, very good,” Rosenhaus said Friday. “I’m not going to get into his relationship with Mike Mayock, but I will say that we’re hopeful that that will be a good one, as well. It has been in the past; it can be in the future.”

Rosenhaus added: “Listen, the NFL is a workplace. And in workplace environments, not everything is perfect. Antonio is a new player on this football team and we’re trying to make it a very good relationship across the board. But what is very common in a new relationship is you try to get things in a good place. And it takes time.”

The news of the plan for Brown to play impacted the line at Caesars Sportsbook again. The Broncos now are one-point favorites at Caesars; the spread had been two points (and pick ’em before news of a possible suspension surfaced). The total also raised a half-point to 43.