Broncos “always assumed” Antonio Brown would play

[Steely McBeam]

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Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson said Friday he was planning on having Antonio Brown against Denver “all along.” The Broncos never thought the Raiders would suspend their star receiver, either.

“You can’t have a good team and let one player being down or one player being up change your whole game plan or change the way you feel about the game,” Broncos linebacker Von Miller said, via Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com. “We always assumed that he was playing. That’s just the way we attacked it from the very first day.”

While the Broncos always anticipated Brown would play, they have no idea of how the Raiders will use him or where they will put him. Brown played no preseason snaps, so the Broncos have no tape of Brown in a Raiders uniform.

“It’s difficult in that regard,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. “We have no video, nobody does, of him in a Raiders uniform in a game. That’s an issue. But he’s going to line up in one of those receiver spots, so we’re practicing and expecting him to be anywhere.”

Or everywhere.

For all the headaches he causes his team, Brown remains one of the best — if not the best — receivers in the game. Chances are good he will get his on Monday night.

“When you play the receivers in the NFL, there’s about 12 good ones. You know what I mean?” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. “All those guys are tough. [Brown] can just run all the routes. I think with Big Ben [Roethlisberger], he had such a connection with Big Ben, so it’s going to be definitely different with Derek Carr to see how they mesh together and how he does with our scheme.”