The latest on Bengals WR A.J. Green and TE Tyler Eifert

While the focus is still on the 2018 Bengals, the recovery of Tyler Eifert and A.J. Green will be a major focus in the 2019 offseason.

Eifert, who is slated to become a free agent, is still in the midst of a long road to recovery from his broken ankle. While there’s nothing good about that kind of injury, Eifert was fortunate that it occurred early in the season, thus giving him more time to recover before he’s set to hit unrestricted free agency in March.

This week, Eifer took a big step in his recovery by shedding his walking boot. He was seen in the Bengals’ locker room this week with a limp, but just taking that boot off is a great sign his recovery is going as planned.

It’s hard to say if the Bengals will bring Eifert back in 2019.

On one hand, they don’t have a proven tight end under contract for 2019, so it would make sense to give him another minor one-year deal, as he’s probably not going to get anything more than that from any team.

On another hand, Eifert just can’t stay healthy, so it may be time for the Bengals to try anything else. Either way, it’s good to see Eifert is making good progress in his recovery, and he’ll hopefully revive his NFL career in 2019, whether it be with the Bengals or another team.

As for Green, who is on injured reserve after suffering a torn ligament in his toe, he underwent surgery this week. Head coach Marvin Lewis spoke briefly about it on Wednesday,

“It went well,” said Lewis while also acknowledging everything was on track as Green enters the early stages of his own road to recovery.

The expectation is Green will be back on the field at some point in OTAs this offseason, though the Bengals will slowly work him back and not risk a setback. The original recovery timeline was 3-4 months, which would put his return in March or April, right when OTAs begin in mid-to-late April.