CINCINNATI — The “New Dey” theme for the 2019 Bengals season has brought a refreshing and rejuvenating feel for me as a season-ticket holder and lifelong Bengals fan. After being emotionally spent four games before the miserable 2018 season even ended, Zac Taylor coming in and eradicating all the staleness that plagued the final three years of Marvin Lewis’s tenure has me as excited as I have ever been for the upcoming season. But one element that contributed to the staleness and near boredom of the final three seasons under Lewis has carried over into the dawn of the 2019 season: A.J. Green’s health.
Two times in the last three years Green has gone down with a season-ending injury, which included missing nearly all of the second half of last year, and without him the Bengals offense was uninspiring to watch. There is no doubting Green’s talent when he is on the field, even in the last three years when he has been hampered with injuries. The seven-time Pro Bowler came within six yards of reaching 1,000 for the sixth straight season to start his career when he tore his hamstring in 2016, and that came with still seven games remaining in the regular-season. Just think what his numbers could have been that year, considering he also had 66 receptions at the time he got hurt. And last year, he had one of his better first halves to the season pacing himself to what could have been a double-digit touchdown season by hauling in six in the first eight games.
But now as we have been hit with the news that Green will be out after having surgery this morning on his left ankle that is expected to sideline him for multiple regular-season games, I’m left to think a lot of things ranging from Green potentially becoming an injury-prone superstar to not even being upset to see him go if he were to leave when his contract is up after this year. Then again, on that latter point, I was hoping that when Boyd got his hefty contract extension last week that that meant Green would hopefully be getting his too. Obviously, he hasn’t yet and now this happens. Maybe the Bengals are skeptical over Green’s recent injury history continuing here at the start of Training Camp. Is he becoming an injury-prone superstar, and is that why the organization may end up NOT giving him a extension? Only time will tell.
At the surface, losing Green means the Bengals offense will be without their leader and potentially best player for quite some time. You don’t have to know the stats to understand how valuable Green is to the Bengals offense. It’s not just what he does to fill the stat sheet, but it’s more his ability to draw double teams that creates opportunities for fellow receivers Tyler Boyd and Josh Malone, tight end Tyler Eifert and running backs Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard out of the backfield. Without Green, the other aforementioned skill players will need to take on expanded roles if the Bengals are going to tread water until the seven-time pro bowl wide receiver returns.
One player that was included in the list above is third-year wide receiver Josh Malone. Malone could very well be one of those players whose role expands significantly with Green out, and he got experience by taking reps with the first team the last two days. He made multiple not-so-simple catches on Sunday, which can be looked at two ways. On one hand, the fact that he can make an athletic catch going to the ground, which was one of the catches he made on Sunday, showcases his athleticism and allows Andy Dalton to throw the ball to him in any window. But on the other hand, the juggling catch he made is something that can be taken as him having an increased chance to drop the ball or have it taken away by the opposing defense. With experience will come a more polished pass-catcher in Malone, and the Bengals will need him in the first part of the regular-season without Green.
With Green being out six to eight weeks, that timetable spans the season opener at Seattle to the week three game at Buffalo. Those who are worried have every right to think that this team could, in fact, be headed to a 1-2 start or even worse 0-3. However, I’m taking the optimistic side here.
Early thoughts on first three opponents
Seattle: Despite the question marks I have with their receiving corps, their top-ranked running game from last year, their improved offensive line and, not to mention, one of the top ten quarterbacks in the NFL in Russell Wilson still make this a formidable offensive team. That could make for a long afternoon for the Bengals defense.
San Francisco: I’m not optimistic about the season-opener, but I am about the home-opener because I’m not sold on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. While the 49ers have one of the most under-the-radar talented offenses in the NFL, none of it will come into fruition if Garoppolo can’t orchestrate it. I might be a little overconfident with this game, but I think the Bengals will win Zac Taylor’s regular-season debut at Paul Brown Stadium.
Buffalo: Just like Jimmy G, I’m not sold on Buffalo as a team. Playing on the road in a hostile environment like Buffalo will be a challenge for the Bengals, but if their talent can play like the better team they should be able to steal a game on the road that they should win.
My point
Even without A.J. Green, I still think the Bengals can go 2-1. And there really is no point in rushing Green back from injury. The season-opener will be the six-week mark, but I see no point in flying Green across the country and back and play in an NFL game for the first time since last December without practically any practice in between. But if players like Boyd, Eifert, Malone, Mixon and Bernard and others step up and take on expanded roles in Green’s absence, there is no reason for me to think any differently about this team than I did before Green went down. As for Green himself, though, I am starting to think just a little bit differently about him than I am used to.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 