A.J. Green remains sidelined

It continues to look unlikely that A.J. Green will play an NFL game in 2019.

Green has yet to play this year since injuring his ankle in training camp. He was planning to return following the bye week, but a setback ended those hopes and have kept him sidelined ever since.

On Wednesday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said pretty much what he’s said for the last month: Green won’t practice but hopes to play this season.

That pretty much guarantees Green won’t play vs. the Patriots this week, leaving him with just matchups with the Dolphins in Week 16 and Browns in Week 17 to return.

If Green truly wants to play before the season ends and he manages to convince the Bengals he’s 100% healthy, perhaps he’ll get to play in one or both of those games. After all, neither Green nor the Bengals want him to enter the 2020 offseason having not played a game since 2018.

Then again, if the Bengals are set on hitting him with the franchise tag, then there really is no sense in him playing.