Here's a brief timeline of the past few days in Pittsburgh: On Sunday, cameras catch Antonio Brown in a heated sideline discussion with first-year offensive coordinator Randy Fitchtner, presumably about his lack of targets in the Steelers loss to the Chiefs.

On Monday, in response to a tweet from a former Steelers' PR staffer that said, "[Brown] needs to thank his lucky stars, because he was drafted by a team that had Ben," Brown responded "Trade me, let's find out." As you might imagine, that got people's attention. And so too did this: Brown didn't show up for work Monday and while his agent said it was a personal matter, coach Mike Tomlin sure sounded like he had no idea why Brown went missing during his Tuesday press conference.

We're only two games into the season but this feels like one of those situations that could snowball quickly and the Steelers, widely considered favorites to win the division just a few weeks ago, could instead be talking about their top-10 2019 draft pick.

On Wednesday, Tomlin met with reporters to give an update.

"[Brown] and I met yesterday for an extended period of time," the coach said after practice, via ESPN.com. "I'll leave the nature of that conversation between us. There was discipline involved for his missed meeting on Monday."

In 2008, Tomlin had benched Santonio Holmes for a game after he was arrested after police found marijuana in his SUV. And in 2012, Rashard Mendenhall was suspended for a game for conduct detrimental to the team after he left the stadium upon learning that he wouldn't be active. So is Brown facing a similar discipline?

Tight end Jesse James told ESPN.com that Brown practiced fully on Wednesday and is in the game plan for Monday night's matchup against the Buccaneers.

Defensive end Cam Heyward added: "I don't make those decisions but, shoot, I'd be a little surprised if he's not there [in Tampa Bay]."

Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger, who missed Brown on at least one touchdown throw, is unconcerned.

"A.B. is a very passionate football player. I think we all know that, the fans know that," Big Ben said. "That's what makes him special, is his passion for this game and the passion to be great. We're not going to want to take that away from him. When he gets frustrated in games, just tell him to stay with me, talk to me, communicate with me. ... If I missed you on something, if you're getting open and I didn't see you, let's just talk and communicate. He does a great job of doing that."

So are media and fans making too much of this?

There is one sure-fire way to change the conversation: The Steelers need to win. As it stands, four of seven CBSSports.com experts expect Pittsburgh to get its first victory on Monday in Tampa.