Every Bengals fan and football writers around the country have been singing rookie wide receiver A.J. Green's praises since the first day of training camp. He has been getting open, often times leaving veteran cornerbacks behind him, and he's been making the tough catches look insanely easy. Simply put, A.J. Green looks like the real deal at wide receiver.
Naturally, when one receiver gets a lot of attention from the media and from fans, other receivers lose some. On the other side of the field, there's another extremely athletic and talented receiver named Jerome Simpson who might be just a little jealous. Those are his words, not mine.
"I was kind of jealous out there," Simpson joked. "I love the way (Green) goes up and gets the ball. He's fun to watch. We both like to compete like that and we're trying to make each other better."
There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition between teammates and friends. Even though Simpson is three years Green's senior, he is almost just as inexperienced as Green and they're both under offensive coordinator Jay Gruden for the first time in their careers. Anything that will make him kick it into that extra gear, whether it be a rivalry with a particular defensive back or a friendly rivalry with a teammate, is a good thing. That's especially true since Simpson is in his last year of his contract and he's only played well in the final three games of the 2010 season. If he's going to prove to the Bengals that he's worth re-signing and the first three years of his career were a fluke, he's going to need to have a big year this year.
A big year for Simpson could only be a good thing for the Bengals.