The Cincinnati Bengals won’t have star receiver A.J. Green on the field for Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks.
This much was quietly confirmed when coach Zac Taylor revealed undrafted wideout Damion Willis will start in Green’s place (he also announced Michael Jordan and Trey Hopkins won starting gigs, benching Billy Price).
But a first-hand account of Sunday’s practice ahead of another Thursday preseason game illustrated the underlying point about Green.
From ESPN’s Ben Baby: “A.J. Green was briefly in the locker room today. Still had a boot on his left foot and using the push scooter. Didn’t have an update on his potential return, either.”
Initially, after Green’s injury in Dayton to open training camp, Taylor had said he hopes Green only misses a few games. Seattle was always in doubt, but it’s interesting little is being said about Green’s status, so we only have the visuals to work with.
Green started camp active and suffered the setback, so it’s hard to imagine the Bengals would throw him on injured reserve with a designation to return. If they think he’ll still only miss a few games, he’ll just be inactive for those while Willis gets the nod.
