Antonio Brown has been dealing with an ankle injury since last season, and many in his circle are aware of the fact that it needs surgery. In fact, just a few months ago, it had been reported that Brown was scheduled for surgery, however, he never actually went under the knife. Instead, Brown has been keeping it medicated, and he is perfectly okay with walking around with his ankle as is.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, Brown touched on his decision not to get the ankle worked on. As he explained, going through surgery rehab can take a lot out of you, and at this point, he is only willing to get the surgery if he has guaranteed work with an NFL team this Fall. 

Antonio Brown

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“I need to get my ankle fixed, but I just want to make sure I got an obligation or a commitment from a team,” Brown said. “It’s a lot for a guy to go do surgery without an idea of where you gonna work, or who you going to work for.” Brown then went on to say that he would love to play in the NFL again as football is his life. “I couldn’t even be in this position without being a football player,” he said. “So I never want to take that for granted. I would love to continue my career. I got a lot of game left in me.”

Some teams might find this offputting, as usually, a franchise wants you to be healthy before they sign you. Regardless, this is an interesting strategy from Brown, and only time will tell whether or not he is given another chance in the NFL.

[Via]