Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green looks like a Comeback Player of the Year contender going into 2020.
It’s not just Joe Burrow. It’s not even that Green’s outright saying he wants to compete for the award.
But it’s clear Green’s got something to prove.
Just ask the people around him. Curtis Winters, who has helped train Green since 2011, told ESPN’s Ben Baby this offseason’s training had a different vibe to it.
“Even though I don’t think he has anything to prove, I think he wanted to prove to everybody he is the person they thought he was originally,” Winters said.
Reza Hesam, who works with athletes on preventative measures and helped Green with body control and landing properly, saw much of the same, again per Baby.
“He doesn’t need to verbalize it,” Hesam said. “You can just tell. He is very competitive. You can tell he has a chip on his shoulder.”
What Green can do when he’s healthy doesn’t need much of an explanation at this stage of his career. That his offseason training added preventative measures to avoid the landings that contributed to his past injury woes is only a good thing.
Add in potentially better quarterback play and an offense boasting names like Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd to draw a defense’s attention and Green looks positioned to prove his doubters wrong as he plays the season on the franchise tag.
