Antonio Brown did not play in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-ending 16-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, but not because of any knee injury.

Gerry Dulac and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that his absence was due to sitting out practice last week after a dispute with a teammate led to the wide receiver throwing a ball in anger at him.

Multiple reports have indicated that teammate to be QB Ben Roethlisberger.

The incident in question happened on Wednesday during a walk-through practice, sources tell Dulac and Bouchette.

Afterwards, Brown elected to not practice with his teammates for the remainder of the week and skipped the Saturday night meeting at the team's hotel. He arrived at Heinz Stadium on Sunday expecting to play and when he did not, Brown left by the half.

One teammate called the Brown situation "the worst I've seen."

The 30-year-old All-Pro had been listed all week in the team's injury report as questionable with a knee injury. Despite head coach Mike Tomlin indicating that Brown's participation on Sunday would be a game-time decision, he did not end up testing his knee in warm-ups.

Brown finished his season with 15 touchdown receptions in 15 games, leading the NFL and setting a club record. He recorded 104 receptions for 1,297 yards.

Despite the victory, the Steelers finished as runners-up in the AFC North at 9-6-1 behind the Baltimore Ravens and missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.