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Antonio Brown hasn’t directly denied the contents of an NFL Network report that: (1) the Steelers are concerned he cares too much about statistics; and (2) Brown was pouting after the Steelers scored their first touchdown at New England on Sunday. Indirectly, he has made his views known.

Brown has retweeted the following Twitter message from Colts punter Pat McAfee criticizing the report.

“NFL Network . . . owned/operated by the NFL . . . reported @AntonioBrown was pouting after 1st td . . so, lying 2 make superstars look bad is good 4 biz?”

It’s a valid point, especially since certain aspects of the report appear to be inaccurate. And it raises real questions about whether and to what extent the Steelers approved (at best) or leaked (at worst) the news to the media conglomerate that the Steelers partially own.

The item came from Aditi Kinkabwhala of NFL Network, a reporter who is essentially embedded with the Steelers. As Albert Breer learned the hard way while working for NFL Media, stirring the pot with one of the member franchises can create problems. Without delving too far into territory that could prompt a negative reaction from 345 Park Avenue, let’s just say that Kinkabwhala is smart enough to know how to avoid a negative reaction from the NFL franchise she primarily covers.

Coincidentally (or not), there hasn’t been a negative reaction from the Steelers. The team hasn’t denied the report, and coach Mike Tomlin didn’t declare it to be #fakenews when meeting with reporters on Tuesday; Tomlin simply said he didn’t see any pouting.

So any anger form McAfee, Brown, or anyone else directed at NFL Network for any inaccuracies or embellishments in the report should also be directed at the Steelers, who did nothing to stop the report, who haven’t reacted in the way they should have if it were based on alternative facts, and who apparently wanted to send a message by putting the information into the public consciousness.