Tomlin confirms benching Brown, teammates don't believe he was hurt

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held a press conference Wednesday and clarified why star receiver Antonio Brown missed Sunday's season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tomlin confirmed Brown was "unavailable" leading up to the game, according to WPXI's Alby Oxenreiter, and was benched because he did not attend Saturday's walk-through in addition to experiencing lower-body soreness.

"He was absent due to injury and lack of information," Tomlin said.

The head coach told reporters that Brown had discomfort in his knee on Friday and was sent for an MRI, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Tomlin and Brown didn't communicate later Friday nor at all Saturday.

He added that the two haven't spoken since before Sunday's game, and Brown did not attend Monday's team meetings.

Brown didn't receive his scheduled MRI, however, and multiple Steelers players told NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala that they don't believe he was hurt.

Tomlin said he has not received a formal trade request from Brown, according to Kinkhabwala.

"We take his lack of presence ... as something very significant and will be handled appropriately so," he said.

Brown took to Twitter during the press conference:

Tomlin would not say Brown quit on his teammates Sunday but admitted he was disappointed in his star player.

"We're talking about our darkest hour ... the guy not communicating is a very real element of discussion."

The veteran pass-catcher reportedly threw a football at Ben Roethlisberger during the walk-through practice. The quarterback denied a rift between the two but said the wide receiver hasn't returned his calls.