10-12-2020, 02:03 AM
(10-12-2020, 01:31 AM)bengaloo Wrote: If anyone on here pays for this site, it may have an interesting take on AJ Green today. I dont pay for it so I cant read it, but saw Jay Morrison tweet the link
https://theathletic.com/2131694/2020/10/11/what-a-j-green-said-what-he-felt-and-what-it-means-in-bengals-pick-six/
'Green left the field after playing two snaps early in the third quarter with what the team said was a hamstring injury, although he wasn’t limping as he checked out ahead of a third-and-6 play and there was no sign of ice as the CBS cameras showed him sitting on the bench.
It was during one of those shots that the camera caught Green talking to assistant wide receivers coach Troy Walters. His words weren’t audible, but it was pretty clear to even the most amateur of lip readers that the last thing Green said before the camera cut away was “just trade me.”
What Green said before that is far less clear, as is the context of the conversation. What was clear is that Green was frustrated.
Asked when Green got hurt, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor began his answer by saying, “That’s a great question.”
“It was around (halftime),” Taylor said. “I can’t pinpoint it.”
Green’s final play was a 5-yard hitch, and he was open with Peters playing off of him. But the pressure again got to Burrow quickly, and the quarterback tucked the ball and ran. Green turned around to block, but Burrow was dragged down quickly for a 2-yard gain.
Green looked skyward after that play and rolled his head around in apparent frustration. He was walking off the field a few seconds later as Mike Thomas ran on to replace him.
Wide receiver Tyler Boyd was asked if he sensed any frustration from his teammate.
“Nah. Not really. I think we were all frustrated at a point,” Boyd said. “It was kind of hard to pick out individual guys. We were all upset. Not about our targets or things like that. We all want to win. That’s what it all comes down to. We felt that we left a lot out there, and that was the worst performance of the offense that we’ve ever displayed. I can tell you that will never happen again.”
Taylor said Green never voiced any frustration to him.
“A.J. has been nothing but positive,” he said.
But if Green said what it looked like he said to Walters, it likely was born of frustration and not any sort of demand. His return to action after missing all of 2019 has been disappointing and not productive. He entered Sunday’s game with a 42.4 target-to-catch percentage, the worst among the 135 players with at least 10 catches.
And even if he says he said what it looked like he said and he meant it, the trade market for a 32-year-old wide receiver with declining speed and 14 catches for 119 yards on 34 targets, not to mention one still due 11 game checks totaling $12.4 million, will be almost nil.'
