Bengals Less Optimistic About AJ Green's Return After Ankle Surgery
By Michael Luciano
The 2019 season was already looking pretty bleak for Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals, but that outlook has become even less optimistic following another visit from the injury bug.
After losing No. 11 overall pick Jonah Williams for the season with a shoulder injury, the Bengals saw their best player, wide receiver AJ Green, go down with an ankle injury while at practice. While the team originally believed Green could make a comeback in time for Week 1, that diagnosis has changed post-surgery, and Green is now expected to miss several games.
Another update on #Bengals WR AJ Green: Following surgery, based on what they found cleaning out the ankle, he’s now expected to miss a few games, I’m told. Not ideal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 30, 2019
Injuries limited Green to nine games last season, which was the first season in which the eight-year veteran did not make the Pro Bowl. Still, even with a lame-duck head coach and Andy Dalton as his quarterback, Green managed to haul in six touchdowns and pile up 694 yards during that span.
The No. 1 wide receiver job will fall on Tyler Boyd in Green's stead, who recently came out and took a shot at the field at the University of Dayton's Welcome Stadium, which is where Green was injured.
Tyler Boyd blames AJ Green's injury on 'terrible' stadium turf #CincinnatiBengals https://t.co/sVuWL4Duas
— Bengals Talk (@Bengals_TT) July 29, 2019
It takes a special kind of mental fortitude to be a Bengals fan, and this is the latest in another series of gut punches.
Hopefully the star receiver's new timetable doesn't feature any setbacks, because Green is the heart and soul of this Bengals team.