Why is Antonio Brown still in the NFL?

Yes, the veteran wide receiver did make eight catches in the playoffs last season, and did score a touchdown in the Super Bowl, but it’s not like he’s anywhere close to the top target for Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.

Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are the starters at wideout for the Bucs, and of course Brady’s pal Rob Gronkowski lines up at tight end as a big-time threat through the air. Scotty Miller, entering his third year in the league, is coming into his own, too.

Brown, who flamed out in Pittsburgh and New England — cut by the Pats after a woman said he sent her texts she found “intimidating” after she had accused him of unwanted sexual advances two years prior — and last year he pleaded no contest to felony burglary with battery before joining the Bucs for their championship run. This is all not to mention his settling of a 2019 rape and sexual assault lawsuit this April brought by his former trainer.

So it sucked when Tampa Bay decided to roll out the red carpet for Brown, and it’ll suck even more now if they don’t cut him after what happened on Thursday.

At a joint practice with the Titans, Brown ripped off Tennessee cornerback Chris Jackson’s helmet and repeatedly punched him. The reason for this was that Jackson had been holding Brown. Totally normal response to something that’s worth a five-yard penalty.

The fourth receiver on any team is expendable, and at the age of 33, Brown is even more so. Do the Bucs have a scouting staff that might be able to identify a suitable replacement among training camp cuts? A coaching staff that might be able to build up an unheralded young player? The supposed greatest quarterback of all time? Then they can, and should, tell Brown to take a hike before the next time Brady takes a hike.

This is a league where a starting-quality quarterback can be labeled a distraction for silently taking a knee during the national anthem, after consulting with an ex-Green Beret about respectful methods of protesting racist police, and the explanation for his absence for the league is that there are just better options out there to play quarterback.

As long as Antonio Brown remains in that same league, it’s a disgrace.

A headline from Boston: “GM Brian O’Halloran: Blame front office if Red Sox miss playoffs.”

Yeah, dude, that really shouldn’t be a problem for anyone, what with the failure to address obvious holes at the trade deadline.

The Red Sox were off on Thursday, but continued to lose ground in the American League East and the wild card race, as the Rays, Yankees, and A’s all won on Thursday.

Oakland got an emotional boost from seeing Chris Bassitt at the team hotel in Chicago, two days after the righty was hit in the head by a line drive.