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It should probably come as no surprise, but the offseason drama in Pittsburgh began before the season even ended.

This after receiver Antonio Brown "went off" on a teammate and skipped multiple meetings and practices before and after the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported Brown elected to sit out practices after the heated dispute, and the Steelers' decision not to play him against the Bengals had nothing to do with a knee injury. The report, citing several sources, said Brown became "disgusted" and threw a football in anger at one of his teammates during a walk-through.

A source told ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was involved in the incident with Brown, but Fowler notes this wasn't a head-to-head clash, and more of Brown flaming up like he has in the past. The source further advised Fowler that it didn't appear Brown threw a football directly at the quarterback.

Brown got upset that Roethlisberger wanted to run a hot read over again during a walk-through, so coaches sent another player to run the play, a source close to the situation told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brown got upset, left practice and talked with Roethlisberger afterward, telling the quarterback that he felt underappreciated and had issues with people in the organization, the source told Schefter.

Brown left and wouldn't respond to the Steelers, including team president Art Rooney II, the source told Schefter.

Brown was seen talking with teammate Darrius Heyward-Bey on Thursday in the locker room but wasn't present the rest of the week or during Monday's exit meetings.

According to NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala, teammates were surprised Brown didn't play in Sunday's season finale, and Brown's absence was not addressed by head coach Mike Tomlin during his meeting with the team Monday.

Brown was not present at the team meeting, sources told Kinkhabwala, and there was frustration in the locker room that the tumultuous week was not addressed by the head coach. Brown was absent from the team's walkthrough Saturday, and a member of the organization told Kinkhabwala that Brown left Heinz Field at halftime Sunday.

Some Steelers players thought it was odd that Brown showed up and walked onto the field pregame in a large fur coat instead of Steelers gear.

"It's a difficult situation," one player said. "It's hard to know what to think. This is the stuff that's hard to deal with."

"His teammates expected him to play on Sunday," Kinkhabwala reported on Monday. "He came to Heinz Field Sunday, he obviously did not suit up, and now this becomes a question of, what is going on with Antonio Brown? Is the level of discipline and accountability where this team needs it to be?"

Kinkhabwala further added that an executive texted her, comparing the situation to what happened between the Steelers and wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who was traded to the New York Jets during the 2010 offseason after four seasons in Pittsburgh.

"Santonio Holmes was given many, many chances here in Pittsburgh until Mike Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert finally said, we've had enough," Kinkhabwala said. "And then Santonio Holmes was let go, obviously. So now in this situation, Mike Tomlin loves to say, 'We will tolerate you until we can replace you.'"

Without Brown in the lineup Sunday, the Steelers squeaked out a hard-fought 16-13 win over the Bengals. But the Steelers certainly could've used their top receiving threat.

Brown, whose 15 receiving touchdowns led the league in 2018, recording his sixth consecutive 100-catch and 1,000-yard receiving season. He combined with JuJu Smith-Schuster to give the Steelers a prolific receiver tandem, as Smith-Schuster also topped the 100-catch and 1,000-yard receiving marks.

Nevertheless, the head-turning production from both receivers wasn't enough to save the season, as the Steelers finished with a 9-6-1 record and missed the postseason for the first time since 2013.

As for the Steelers, the team would likely prefer to not endure further contentious atmospherics in the locker room.

The Steelers already experienced an off-field headache in 2018 when running back Le'Veon Bell elected to not sign his franchise tag and sat out the entire season. So, getting to the bottom of what caused the issues last week with Brown should be a top priority during the offseason.

"This is not a situation that is sustainable at this moment," Kinkhabwala said. "I am told from all ends of this organization that something will have to be done, be it a strict talking to, be it a conversation that this can't carry on, but this is something that clearly affected the Steelers yesterday and this season at large."

Adding to the intrigue, Fowler notes that Brown's Week 17 absence punctuates a bizarre year for the All-Pro. Brown threatened a reporter over a story he didn't like, became incensed on the sideline during a Week 2 loss, responded on social media to a critique from a former Steelers employee with the line "Trade me let's find out," and faced lawsuits over allegations that he threw furniture over the 14th-floor balcony of a South Florida apartment balcony.

Needless to say, we'll all be hearing more about this situation in the coming days, weeks and perhaps months.