A.J. Green could miss 4 weeks with ankle injury

UPDATE

The MRI revealed more damage to the ankle and is now expected to sideline A.J. Green for 6-8 weeks.

The Bengals got their first training camp injury scare Saturday when A.J. Green went down with an ankle injury.

Initially, it looked like it could be significant enough to put Green’s availability for Week 1 at Seattle in jeopardy. Thankfully, it’s since been reported that it’s just a low-ankle sprain, the type if injury that shouldn’t keep him out too long.

However, Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com is reporting that, while the full extent of the injury is still unknown, it sounds like Green could miss around four weeks of action.

A.J. Green apparently underwent an MRI Sunday morning and there was no definitive word as the Bengals prepared to practice in the afternoon. The hope is there is no more damage to a sprained left ankle with the thinking he’d miss four weeks after he came down on the outside of his foot when contesting a pass.

That timeframe would mean Green may return in time for the fourth preseason game, but at that point, the Bengals would probably just keep him on ice until the regular season.

While getting Green back for Week 1 should be the ultimate goal, it would be a big setback to not have him for all of training camp and potentially all of the preseason, especially while Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan implement their new offense.

Yes, Green is one of the best receivers in football, but it’s still going to hurt his chemistry and rhythm in a new offense if he’s not able to practice going through it until it’s time for the regular season.

It doesn’t help that playing at Seattle could be the Bengals’ most challenging road game of 2019, so having Green coming off a long layoff to face them is far from ideal.

But after seeing how visibly distraught Green was as he was being carted off the field on Saturday, just knowing he should be back by Week 1 vs. not at all in 2019 should bring some solace to the Bengals.