First Call: Did Tom Brady and Bill Belichick want to keep Antonio Brown?

Tuesday’s “First Call” shows us that the decision to cut Antonio Brown may not have been entirely popular with all of the New England Patriots. Is Jalen Ramsey playing sick? Austin Meadows keeps impressing in Tampa.

Lobbying for A.B.?

The knee jerk reaction from many in Pittsburgh — including me — is that the Patriots must have figured out quickly that Antonio Brown wasn’t going to be worth the headache.

Maybe that’s what ownership thought. But perhaps that opinion didn’t stretch beyond Robert Kraft.

The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin pointed out on Twitter that it appeared that neither Tom Brady or Bill Belichick were “too happy with Kraft’s decision to release AB.”

The Washington Post reported, citing an interview Brady conducted with WEEI Radio and reporting from Volin, “Overall, some players, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, privately voiced their displeasure, but others, according to the NFL Network’s Mike Giardi, said there was ‘relief’ inside the organization. Volin pointed out that ‘Brown spent all of practice on the day he was cut with the first team, a sign that Belichick wanted to keep him on the roster.’”

Basically, the inference there is that some would’ve preferred to see Brown stay for football reasons as opposed to the expeditious reasons to release him.

With Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon both dealing with injuries, Brown could’ve really come in handy.

But, still, is he worth it?

Case of the Mondays?

Disgruntled Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Jalen Ramsey is calling in sick.

Maybe all week.

Due to being sick, Jaguars’ CB Jalen Ramsey will not practice today, nor maybe this week at all, per sources.

Ramsey still wants to be traded; Jaguars want to keep him. Standoff continues.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2019

Could Ramsey be calling off just because he wants to be traded? I’m not going to rule it out.

Let’s just say this has “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” written all over it. My guess is Ramsey doesn’t know the words to “Danke Schoen,” but he’ll learn.

Meadows moves the needle

What a win for the Tampa Bay Rays.

They came back from 4-0 down to win against the Boston Red Sox Monday.

And Austin Meadows got the rally going in the fourth inning, reaching base with a single. Travis d’Arnaud followed with a hit. Then Ji-Man Choi did this.

It's pic.twitter.com/Fw2mDDBpQZ

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 24, 2019

The Rays didn’t stop there as Brandon Lowe homered, too.

time (watch where this one landed plz) pic.twitter.com/OGAJhRvonJ

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 24, 2019

As did Willy Adames.

to hit bombs! pic.twitter.com/onFGDKBlm1

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 24, 2019

Tampa ended up beating Boston 7-4. The Rays now have a half-game lead over the Cleveland Indians for the second AL wild-card spot with five games left in the regular season. Cleveland didn’t play Monday. The Rays are now 1 1/2 games behind the Oakland A’s for the top wild-card spot. Oakland was also idle.

As for Meadows, his OPS is up to .924. The former Pirate is hitting .291. He has 32 home runs and 88 RBIs.

That’s cool, but…

For all the noise being made by the Tampa Bay bats, the highlight of the game was turned in by Boston’s Mookie Betts in right field.

Actually, I believe he made this throw from Orlando. And it had mileage to spare.

Mookie Betts. WOW pic.twitter.com/L1tUkcev5J

— Section 10 Podcast (@Section10Pod) September 24, 2019

Clemente-esque. Period. No doubt. One of the best throws I’ve seen.

Avisaíl García was the guy who hit the ball and the guy who got tagged out by the ball and its vapor trail.

Magic Mark

Duquesne running back Mark Allen was named NEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

The Penn State graduate transfer totaled 201 yards from scrimmage with a pair of touchdowns in Duquesne’s 35-31 victory at Dayton on Saturday.

Allen tallied a career-high 168 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, including the game-winning score on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter.

On Duquesne’s game-winning drive, he rushed seven times for 38 yards including the go-ahead one-yard rush.

Allen shared the award with Central Connecticut wide receiver Tyshaun James.