Tampa Bay Buccaneers release Antonio Brown

Four days after wide receiver Antonio Brown threw off his helmet and dashed off the field in the middle of a game against the New York Jets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have terminated his contract, effective immediately, the team announced Thursday.

“While Antonio did receive treatment on his ankle and was listed on the injury report the week leading up to last Sunday’s game, he was cleared to play by our medical team prior to the start of the game and at no point during the game did he indicate to our medical personnel that he could not play.

“We have attempted, multiple times throughout this week, to schedule an evaluation by an outside orthopedic specialist, yet Antonio has not complied. Maintaining the health and wellness of our players is of the utmost importance to our organization.”

Brown and attorney Sean Burstyn said Wednesday that the wide receiver told the Buccaneers he was too hurt to continue playing on an injured ankle, but coach Bruce Arians rebutted having any knowledge of the nature of his outburst, nor did he say Brown communicated to him or to the training staff that his ankle was bothering him.

“At no point during that game did he ever ask the trainer or doctor about his ankle — that’s the normal protocol,” Arians said Thursday. “We go through protocols during games. I was never notified of it. Obviously that was a disturbing thing. We were looking for him to go back into the game.”

Arians said Brown was agitated at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Jets about not getting the targets he was expecting and that he had to be calmed down.

Brown’s attorney told ESPN that the receiver’s ankle injury, and not targets, was the source of Brown’s frustration.

To that, Arians responded with a…