Brent Grimes' Wife Miko Suggests Bucs Benched Him vs. Bears as Payback

Miko Grimes, the wife of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Brent Grimes, believes the team punished him in 2018 by making him focus on defending the top receivers for opposing teams. 

During an episode of her iHeartMiko Podcast (h/t ESPN.com's Jenna Laine), she suggested the Bucs benched Brent in the second half of a Week 4 game against the Chicago Bears because he didn't want to shadow Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown the previous week. 

"I think it was some bulls--t," Miko said. "I think it was some payback for you not wanting to shadow Antonio Brown."

Brent noted the coaches told him he was benched "because I was on my phone at halftime—which was true because I'm on my phone every game of my career. I would say 50-60, no, probably 70 percent of the locker room is listening to their phone, looking at something on their phone."

He also mentioned the Buccaneers wanted him to do more work for not enough pay. 

"I just couldn't agree with it," Brent said. "It's just disrespectful. People who follow receivers all the time, unless they're on a rookie contract or trying to get paid, are usually making $13-15 million a year."

A 12-year NFL veteran, Brent earned $7 million in 2018 after agreeing to a one-year deal to return to the Bucs last offseason. 

Through Grimes' first two games this season, Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson noted he was one of three starting cornerbacks who were allowing a perfect quarterback rating (158.3) when targeted. 

Grimes appeared in 13 games with Tampa Bay, recording 48 combined tackles, six passes defensed and zero interceptions.