A.J. Green Injury: Bengals Wide Receiver Will Miss Sunday’s Game Against Panthers
A.J. Green suffered an injury in practice this week that will keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
Green aggravated an injury to his right toe during practice Wednesday and had to be carted off the field. It is unclear how the injury occurred, but during the open portion of the team’s practice the Pro Bowl wide receiver was seen walking to the side of practice fields and taking off his right cleat before slamming his helmet to the ground in frustration.
On Thursday, the reports emerged that A.J. Green would be out of the lineup on Sunday.
After meeting with his foot doctor this morning, #Bengals WR AJ Green is not expected to play this Sunday, source says.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 9, 2014
The loss could be huge for the Bengals, who are coming off a 43-17 drubbing at the hands of the New England Patriots. Green is a favorite target of quarterback Andy Dalton and a key part of the team’s offense.
There had been some hope this week that A.J. Green could play through the injury. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who didn’t see the injury take place during Wednesday’s practice, initially made it seem as if Green might be on the field on Sunday.
“In my mind, he is going to be able to play until somebody tells me he’s not,” Jackson said. “I don’t look at it like that until I have to. So I’m not worried about that right now. The guys that are out there, we have a game plan that we’re installing and putting in for a team that we’re playing and we’ll get everybody ready to play.”
After learning that Green would be out, Jackson said the team is prepared to work around the absence.
“That’s why I never put together a game plan based on one guy,” Jackson said, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’re not going to crash our game plan. As a coordinator you just have to adapt. You never know what might happen. When we started the Atlanta game I thought he was playing. We kept playing. We want to have all of our guys out there and if they are they are, if they’re not they’re not. They’re not going to cancel the game. We have to go play.”
The Bengals are dealing with more than just the injury to A.J. Green. The team was also missing a handful of key players at practice this week, including guard Mike Pollack, receiver Marvin Jones, and linebacker Vincent Rey.
[Image via 2Kolf.com]
