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The Bengals are 0-3 for a lot of reasons, but not all of them are because of who’s on the field.
One big reason why Cincinnati has yet to pick up a win, despite having plenty of chances to do so vs. the Seahawks and Bills, is because star receiver A.J. Green remains out while recovering from ankle surgery.
When Green initially injured himself on the first day of training camp and subsequently had surgery, the hope was he’d be back by Week 4’s primetime clash with the Steelers.
Unfortunately, that won’t happen, as Green may not even practice this week, according to head coach Zac Taylor, who won’t even put a timeline on Green’s recovery.
Zac Taylor said WR A.J. Green will be out against Pittsburgh. Taylor said he doesn't expect A.J. Green to practice this week. Said he doesn't want to make a timeline on his return.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) September 23, 2019
Because Green will have missed two months of football whenever he returns to practice, one would think the Bengals will play it safe and get him through two weeks of practice before letting him play in games. That means we may not even see him in Week 5 vs. the Cardinals.
Now it’s looking like Week 6 vs. the Ravens may be the target return date for Green unless he makes a lot of progress over the next two weeks.
In the meantime, the Bengals will rely on Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Alex Erickson, Auden Tate and Damion Willis to carry the load while Green recovers.