A.J. Green won’t make his long-anticipated return against the Oakland Raiders in Week 11.
Speaking to the media Friday about the updated injury report and various other topics, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor offered a bit of context to the Green front.
“We’ll just keep taking it as it comes, and we’ll see what next week brings for us,” Taylor told the media, per Bengals.com. “(The swelling) flares up and then it goes back down. He just wasn’t in position to play this week.”
A week ago, Taylor had sounded confident Green would make his return against the Ravens. That same day, it became clear the wideout had suffered a setback in the form of swelling. Before his team took the field for a 49-13 loss to Baltimore, Green was seen working rehab with trainers.
That sequence of events made it clear Green wouldn’t play this weekend in Oakland. Given the current trajectory of his return bid and the team itself, it’s safe to wonder if the team doesn’t just end up shelving Green on injured reserve like it just did for Dre Kirkpatrick.
That might be the worst-case scenario for everyone with Green ready to hit free agency this offseason. But at this point, everyone remains waiting to see if Green can overcome setbacks from an injury suffered on the first day of training camp.
