Patriots release wide receiver Antonio Brown over sexual misconduct allegations

“The New England Patriots are releasing Antonio Brown. We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time,” the Patriots said in a statement, according to Mike Reiss.

Brown, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by two different women in recent weeks, allegedly sent threatening text messages to one of his accusers.

The texts were sent in a group chat, which included four other phone numbers, and the initial messages came from the number the woman identified as Brown’s from their previous interactions. The number she attributed to him accused her of making up the story for money. That same individual also texted pictures of the woman’s children in the group chat.

Sports Illustrated was able to independently confirm that the texts were sent from the same phone number Brown used to communicate with her at the time of the alleged incident.

Brown addressed getting cut in multiple tweets on Twitter Friday afternoon, writing, “Thanks for the opportunity appreciate @Patriots.”

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“‘If I’m lying then I’m flying,'” he also tweeted, along with “thank you” and “the marathon continues.”