A.J. Green Out Six to Eight Weeks After Tearing Ligaments in Ankle

The NFL is back. Fans and teams around the country are chomping at the bit to see players back on the field.

In Cincinnati, that excitement is doubled as the team is in their first season under new head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor is the most recent addition to the Sean McVay coaching tree after spending the last two years as an assistant (assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 and quarterbacks coach in 2018) with the Los Angeles Rams.

After more than a decade of Marvin Lewis calling the shots the change was a jolt of new life into the franchise.

Though the Bengals have been disappointing as of late there is plenty of offensive talent on this roster. The headliner is wide receiver A.J. Green. He ranks among the top 15 in receptions (602) among active players, among the top 10 in receiving yards (8,907), and among the top 10 in receiving touchdowns (63).

At yesterday’s practice, Green went down with an undisclosed injury during the team’s 7-on-7 drills. It was reported that he was carted off the field and a picture of him on crutches with his lower left leg wrapped in a towel made the rounds on the internet.

Turns out that Green tore ligaments in his ankle and will be out between six and eight weeks. He will get a second opinion but at the moment it seems like there won’t be any surgery required.

As part of the NFL’s celebration of their 100th season, Cincinnati practiced at the University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium—the first NFL game was played in Dayton—but reports are that field conditions were subpar compared to NFL standards. The league will look into whether or not the field conditions had an involvement in Green’s untimely injury.

Entering the final year of his deal, Green (30), was hoping to get a new deal negotiated before the beginning of the season and opted against holding out believing that he and the team could embark in good-faith negotiations as he trained with the team.

Last year we saw the Seattle Seahawks safety start the season without a new contract and suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Thankfully Green won’t be lost for the entire year. In a sport like football where injuries are more likely to happen, players wanting to lock down guaranteed money are often vilified for keeping themselves off the field and not risking their bodies.

This setback for Green will likely keep him and Cincinnati from agreeing to a new deal—prior to the injury Green has missed 13 games over the last three seasons.