Vontaze Burfict's controversial hit on Antonio Brown during Pittsburgh's victory over Cincinnati on Sunday caused a stir in the Steelers' locker room that boiled into Monday, with Pittsburgh offensive linemen David DeCastro, Marcus Gilbert and Alejandro Villanueva calling for Burfict to be punished by the NFL for his hit on the team's All-Pro receiver. Joe Thomas, the Cleveland Browns' former All-Pro offensive lineman, said Tuesday morning on Golic & Wingo that Bufcit's hit on Brown should render a suspension that will keep Burfict sidelined for the rest of the 2018 season. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that the league is reviewing three plays that Burfict was involved in on Sunday.

“He should be suspended for the rest of the season," Thomas said of Burfict, who served a four-game suspension to start the 2018 season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

Gilbert, who has faced Burfict countless times since the Bengals' embattled linebacker entered the league in 2012, called his hit on Brown "pathetic."

"The NFL has to do something about that," Gilbert said Monday from the Steelers' team facility. "A guy like that, going out there and intentionally trying to hurt people, there’s no need for that kind of play in this league. It’s sad. Hopefully one of these days he’ll grow up."

“Burfict is a really good football player and I think everybody in this locker room has respect for what he can do on the field,” Villanueva said following Sunday's game. “That hit on A.B, it’s unnecessary. It’s bad for the game. It’s hurting the National Football League. It’s hurting fans that are deciding if they want to let their kids play football. It’s injuring players in the NFL that are going to have consequences after football. I think there’s no place for that behavior. For him to come out and continue to talk and continue to make this game something more than a football game, it’s very unfortunate."

On Sunday, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said that Burfict threatened Steelers' receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after throwing his shoulder into Brown on a hit that temporary sidelined the All-Pro receiver. Brown was concussed by Burfict during Pittsburgh's 2015 wild card victory over Cincinnati.

“He hits A.B., then, literally, as I am under center for the next play, he points at JuJu and says, ‘You’re next,’ ” Roethlisberger said. “How do you allow that stuff?”

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis will ever be able to get through to Burfict, who continues to find himself in the middle of controversy despite previous suspensions for hits the league deemed illegal and unnecessary. The Steelers' players are surely monitoring how the league handles Burfict's recent actions that may nor may not result in another suspension.