Tyler Boyd Believes in A.J. Green: 'He'll Hit 1,000 Yards' This Season
CINCINNATI — The Bengals enter Sunday's matchup against the Ravens with the 18th-highest-scoring offense in the NFL. They're averaging 24.8 points-per-game.
That number might be even higher if A.J. Green was making an impact. The seven-time Pro Bowler hasn't looked like himself during the first four games of the season.
Green has 14 receptions for 119 yards in four games. He hasn't scored a touchdown and is averaging 8.5 yards-per-catch, which is six yards less than his career average (14.7).
He missed all of the 2019 campaign with an ankle injury. He also missed most of training camp after tweaking his hamstring in the middle of August.
Some wonder if the veteran star is just shaking off some rust after a shortened training camp and no preseason games. Others think he's still the same player.
"He will have a lot more games to come back and he'll hit 1,000 yards," Tyler Boyd said. "He's still the best receiver. Just because the games don't come to him and it's not flowing to him and he's not flashing that anything is wrong. I don't think anything is wrong, I just think everything is going to come once opportunity hits."
Meanwhile Boyd has become Joe Burrow's go-to receiver. He's tied for fourth in the NFL with 28 receptions (34 targets). His 320 receiving yards have more than doubled the receiving output of Tee Higgins, who is second on the team in receiving with 152 yards.
Green ranks third on the Bengals in receiving (119 yards) through four games. He had one reception for three yards on five targets in Sunday's win over the Jaguars. His numbers continue to trend in the wrong direction.
"I think he's going. I think we could complete a few more balls to him, but at the end of the day he's going to have up and down days," Boyd said. "I'm not saying he had a bad game, the game just didn't come to him specifically."
Green's longest catch this season is 15 yards. The Bengals desperately need one of their wide receivers to be a downfield threat, especially on Sunday against a Ravens defense that is one of seven NFL teams allowing less than 100 rushing yards (97.5) per game.
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