Two seasons ago, a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals briefly broke down into something resembling a UFC fight.
Bengals wideout A.J. Green went after Jaguars corner Jalen Ramsey, suplexed him and started swinging away, producing longlasting imagery like this:
Green has since said in interviews it was just over trash talk.
Sunday, Green’s Bengals take on Ramsey’s Los Angeles Rams, but he won’t be able to go as he misses another week with an injury suffered on the first day of training camp.
Tyler Boyd is happy to step in and take on Ramsey.
“I’m a talker, too. I talk a lot stuff, too,” Boyd said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I’m not going to feel badly if he’s saying stuff to me or maybe makes a play, I’m going to come right back at him.”
Boyd is in major need of a big game too. One of the NFL’s most reliable wideouts through the first five weeks in terms of catch rate and with 20-plus first downs, Boyd fell silent over the past two games. In a loss to Jacksonville, he caught just five of 14 targets and lost a fumble.
It is no secret Boyd is the spark right now for the Cincinnati offense. If he can get the better of Ramsey, one of the NFL’s top-flight corners, the chances the Bengals can squeak out the first win of the season dramatically go up. If not, the team might march winless into the bye.
If nothing else, Boyd sounds ready for the task.
