As the Bengals honor retired receiver A.J. Green, he still has everyone in awe

[Arkansas Bengal]

Charlie Goldsmith, Cincinnati Enquirer

Fri, Sep 15, 2023, 8:53 AM CDT·8 min read

 

 

In Week 3 of the 2015 season, with just under seven minutes left in the game against the Baltimore Ravens, former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green said to former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, “Coach, get me the ball.”

“When A.J. says that,” Jackson said eight years later, “You’ve got to get him the ball.”

Jackson called a vertical route up the middle of the field. Green made the catch in between two defenders, broke two tackles and sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown in a game that the Bengals won, 28-24.

 

Green made so many sensational plays with the Bengals that if you ask one of his former teammates about one of his big plays – even if you narrow it down to his big plays against the Ravens – you need to be a little more specific.

“There are a lot of plays,” former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said.

“He did a lot of things that made me say, ‘Wow, that was pretty cool,’ ” former Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert said.

“Even on bloopers, he made big plays,” former Bengals wide receiver Mohamed Sanu said.

 

On Sunday, the Bengals will honor retired wide receiver A.J. Green, who made seven Pro Bowls with the Bengals.

Green returns as Bengals' Ruler of the Jungle

Green retired from the NFL in February, and he’ll return to Paycor Stadium on Sunday to be honored as the Bengals’ Ruler of the Jungle.

He ranks second in Bengals’ history with 9,430 receiving yards across the decade that Green spent in Cincinnati. Green was a seven-time Pro Bowler who helped lead the Bengals to five consecutive playoff appearances in what at the time was the most successful stretch in franchise history.

Green also delivered dozens of incredible highlights, unforgettable moments and wins.

“A.J. is a huge part of the history of the Bengals,” Dalton said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “It was so fun to come in as a part of the same draft class and see everything we were able to accomplish. I couldn’t have done it without A.J. He had a stretch there where he arguably was the best receiver in the league. He meant so much not only to the organization but to the city.”

Last weekend, Dalton and Green had dinner. Dalton’s Carolina Panthers were about to play the Atlanta Falcons, and Green lives in the Atlanta area.

They went down memory lane. They started with Green’s 80-yard touchdown against the Ravens in 2015, his game-winning touchdown a few minutes later and that 227-yard game.

“He put the team on his back,” Dalton said.

Eifert feels like he still owes Green for that 80-yard touchdown. Two plays before Green’s catch, Eifert allowed a strip-sack fumble. Ravens defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil ran right around Eifert, sacked Dalton and took the fumble recovery to the end zone for a touchdown.

Before the ensuing kickoff, Green told Jackson to get him the ball. “The first thing that came to my mind was a vertical route,” Jackson said. But the Bengals hadn’t ironed out the protection on that play yet.Running back Giovani Bernard had to block an outside linebacker one-on-one, which had Jackson panicked as the play started. Dalton had to unleash a deep throw in Green’s direction very quickly, but Green made the play happen.

“A.J. is running up the seam, and Andy just let it go,” Jackson said. “He makes the catch. He breaks one tackle. A guy slides over and he breaks another. I thought it was going to the ground, and I’m thinking about the next play. The next thing I know, he’s standing in the end zone.”

“After A.J.’s touchdown,” Eifert said, “I remember thinking, ‘Thank you A.J. for saving my butt.' ”

Green dominant against Baltimore Ravens

Over the course of his career against the Ravens, Green had a Hail Mary catch in 2013, a 77-yard go-ahead touchdown in 2014 and a three-touchdown game in 2018.

“A.J. Green will always be known to me as the Ravens killer,” Jackson said.

Dalton said that he knew very early in training camp in 2011 that he should expect these types of incredible moments from Green. Dalton would test himself and see just how far he could throw the ball down the field in 11 on 11 drills. When Green caught those passes, Dalton realized what they could accomplish together.

“I had never been around a receiver like him,” Dalton said. “Once we got there and I got to see his ability, his size, his length and speed, it was evident from the first practice. We tried to find ways to get him the ball. When the ball was in the air, he had a tracking ability that not many people have. He could put his head down and run. He could high-point the ball. I knew how good he was very early on.”

Sanu’s favorite play was in Week 1 of the 2015 season against the Oakland Raiders. In the second quarter, a fight broke out on the field.

“The next play (after the fight), it was a straight bomb to A.J. over the middle,” Sanu said. “He was in double coverage, and he had to track it over the wrong shoulder. This dude was amazing.”

Before Green made that play, Jackson said that he felt like Green “wasn’t quite in the game. The timing was a bit different.”

Even though Green wasn’t playing well and already had a few drops, he was the guy that the Bengals turned to when they wanted to make a statement. Green’s 30-yard catch got the Bengals into the red zone.

“My job was to make sure A.J. Green touched the ball,” Jackson said. “I said, ‘Let’s get the ball to A.J. I don’t care what the route is.’ I knew Andy was going to find a way to get him the ball.”

Green’s most viral highlight was a Hail Mary in 2016 before halftime against the Cleveland Browns. At that point, Jackson was the Browns head coach. Before the play, Jackson told everyone what was coming.

The play nearly turned into a disaster. Eifert remembers mistiming his jump and “bowling pinning” everyone to the ground. Green tipped the ball to himself two different times and reeled in the touchdown.

“You know, he was a juggler growing up,” Dalton said. “That didn’t surprise me at all. Nothing surprised me with him. Seeing what his ability was and what he can do, no matter how many guys you put on him, he still found a way to go make a play.”

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green made a miraculous bobbling interception before halftime in 2016 against the Browns.

Green's personality shines on field

As Green got better, he started showing more emotion on the field. He showed Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd some of the same lessons that Boyd went on to teach Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

“He’s a chill, quiet dude,” Boyd said. “I learned it’s about handling your business as a professional and as a man. He wasn’t too vocal. But when you had any questions about how to run things or be consistent at something, he was there. He always knew how to win in any coverage. He was so strong and powerful that he could utilize his body to get into areas where the defense can’t play him.”

“He caught a ball against Pittsburgh once and slammed it into the ground,” Jackson remembers. “There was a fire that burned in A.J. that I don’t think people see all the time. But, man, what a good football player he was.”

Dalton’s other favorite moment of Green’s career was their game-winning touchdown against the Falcons in 2018. When they had dinner recently, they relived the moment.

With seven seconds left in that game and the Bengals at the 13-yard line, Green found a weak point in Atlanta’s zone coverage and snuck open in the back corner of the end zone. He made a diving catch that got the Bengals a 37-36 win in Week 4.

“I had been watching him be great for so many years from afar,” said Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard, who was a rookie on the 2018 Bengals. “To finally be on the team and to get to experience a win on his hands was a special moment.”

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green had a big celebration after one of his final signature moments with the Bengals, a diving touchdown catch in 2018.

Four weeks later, Green left the Bengals’ game against the Buccaneers with a foot injury. He missed seven of the Bengals’ final eight games in 2018, and then Green missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury.

Green had a quiet year with the Bengals in 2020, catching 47 passes as a secondary option on the Bengals during quarterback Joe Burrow’s rookie season. He spent the next two years with the Arizona Cardinals and retired after the 2022 season.

On Sunday, Green will be recognized against the Ravens team he torched throughout his career. In 2015, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh famously said, "One of these days, we'll figure out how to cover A.J. Green. It'd be nice if we did it one time before he retires."

Harbaugh never quite made that happen.

“A.J. was always going to show up and make a play for his teammates when we needed him,” Jackson said. “I knew where the ball was going to go because you have A.J. Green on your team. When A.J. Green is on your team, he gets the ball.”

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-honor-retired-receiver-j-135311758.html?src=rss

[sparky151]

I remember Harbaugh saying after one of those games that he hoped that at least once before Green retired, the Ravens could cover him for a game. Never happened. 

[PatternMaster]

AJ is one of my all time favorites, I loved the way he went about his business and played at an elite level. I wish he had a better QB to help him win some playoff games because he is a HOF'er but his team didn't have the success so he never got his just due, IMO. 

 

If anyone from the post-2003 or AM Bengals deserves to be in the HOF, it's Adrieal Jeremiah Green(in Dan Hoard's voice)! 

[claptonrocks]

18 hours ago, Arkansas Bengal said:

Charlie Goldsmith, Cincinnati Enquirer

Fri, Sep 15, 2023, 8:53 AM CDT·8 min read

 

 

In Week 3 of the 2015 season, with just under seven minutes left in the game against the Baltimore Ravens, former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green said to former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, “Coach, get me the ball.”

“When A.J. says that,” Jackson said eight years later, “You’ve got to get him the ball.”

Jackson called a vertical route up the middle of the field. Green made the catch in between two defenders, broke two tackles and sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown in a game that the Bengals won, 28-24.

 

Green made so many sensational plays with the Bengals that if you ask one of his former teammates about one of his big plays – even if you narrow it down to his big plays against the Ravens – you need to be a little more specific.

“There are a lot of plays,” former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said.

“He did a lot of things that made me say, ‘Wow, that was pretty cool,’ ” former Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert said.

“Even on bloopers, he made big plays,” former Bengals wide receiver Mohamed Sanu said.

 

On Sunday, the Bengals will honor retired wide receiver A.J. Green, who made seven Pro Bowls with the Bengals.

Green returns as Bengals' Ruler of the Jungle

Green retired from the NFL in February, and he’ll return to Paycor Stadium on Sunday to be honored as the Bengals’ Ruler of the Jungle.

He ranks second in Bengals’ history with 9,430 receiving yards across the decade that Green spent in Cincinnati. Green was a seven-time Pro Bowler who helped lead the Bengals to five consecutive playoff appearances in what at the time was the most successful stretch in franchise history.

Green also delivered dozens of incredible highlights, unforgettable moments and wins.

“A.J. is a huge part of the history of the Bengals,” Dalton said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “It was so fun to come in as a part of the same draft class and see everything we were able to accomplish. I couldn’t have done it without A.J. He had a stretch there where he arguably was the best receiver in the league. He meant so much not only to the organization but to the city.”

Last weekend, Dalton and Green had dinner. Dalton’s Carolina Panthers were about to play the Atlanta Falcons, and Green lives in the Atlanta area.

They went down memory lane. They started with Green’s 80-yard touchdown against the Ravens in 2015, his game-winning touchdown a few minutes later and that 227-yard game.

“He put the team on his back,” Dalton said.

Eifert feels like he still owes Green for that 80-yard touchdown. Two plays before Green’s catch, Eifert allowed a strip-sack fumble. Ravens defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil ran right around Eifert, sacked Dalton and took the fumble recovery to the end zone for a touchdown.

Before the ensuing kickoff, Green told Jackson to get him the ball. “The first thing that came to my mind was a vertical route,” Jackson said. But the Bengals hadn’t ironed out the protection on that play yet.Running back Giovani Bernard had to block an outside linebacker one-on-one, which had Jackson panicked as the play started. Dalton had to unleash a deep throw in Green’s direction very quickly, but Green made the play happen.

“A.J. is running up the seam, and Andy just let it go,” Jackson said. “He makes the catch. He breaks one tackle. A guy slides over and he breaks another. I thought it was going to the ground, and I’m thinking about the next play. The next thing I know, he’s standing in the end zone.”

“After A.J.’s touchdown,” Eifert said, “I remember thinking, ‘Thank you A.J. for saving my butt.' ”

Green dominant against Baltimore Ravens

Over the course of his career against the Ravens, Green had a Hail Mary catch in 2013, a 77-yard go-ahead touchdown in 2014 and a three-touchdown game in 2018.

“A.J. Green will always be known to me as the Ravens killer,” Jackson said.

Dalton said that he knew very early in training camp in 2011 that he should expect these types of incredible moments from Green. Dalton would test himself and see just how far he could throw the ball down the field in 11 on 11 drills. When Green caught those passes, Dalton realized what they could accomplish together.

“I had never been around a receiver like him,” Dalton said. “Once we got there and I got to see his ability, his size, his length and speed, it was evident from the first practice. We tried to find ways to get him the ball. When the ball was in the air, he had a tracking ability that not many people have. He could put his head down and run. He could high-point the ball. I knew how good he was very early on.”

Sanu’s favorite play was in Week 1 of the 2015 season against the Oakland Raiders. In the second quarter, a fight broke out on the field.

“The next play (after the fight), it was a straight bomb to A.J. over the middle,” Sanu said. “He was in double coverage, and he had to track it over the wrong shoulder. This dude was amazing.”

Before Green made that play, Jackson said that he felt like Green “wasn’t quite in the game. The timing was a bit different.”

Even though Green wasn’t playing well and already had a few drops, he was the guy that the Bengals turned to when they wanted to make a statement. Green’s 30-yard catch got the Bengals into the red zone.

“My job was to make sure A.J. Green touched the ball,” Jackson said. “I said, ‘Let’s get the ball to A.J. I don’t care what the route is.’ I knew Andy was going to find a way to get him the ball.”

Green’s most viral highlight was a Hail Mary in 2016 before halftime against the Cleveland Browns. At that point, Jackson was the Browns head coach. Before the play, Jackson told everyone what was coming.

The play nearly turned into a disaster. Eifert remembers mistiming his jump and “bowling pinning” everyone to the ground. Green tipped the ball to himself two different times and reeled in the touchdown.

“You know, he was a juggler growing up,” Dalton said. “That didn’t surprise me at all. Nothing surprised me with him. Seeing what his ability was and what he can do, no matter how many guys you put on him, he still found a way to go make a play.”

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green made a miraculous bobbling interception before halftime in 2016 against the Browns.

Green's personality shines on field

As Green got better, he started showing more emotion on the field. He showed Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd some of the same lessons that Boyd went on to teach Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

“He’s a chill, quiet dude,” Boyd said. “I learned it’s about handling your business as a professional and as a man. He wasn’t too vocal. But when you had any questions about how to run things or be consistent at something, he was there. He always knew how to win in any coverage. He was so strong and powerful that he could utilize his body to get into areas where the defense can’t play him.”

“He caught a ball against Pittsburgh once and slammed it into the ground,” Jackson remembers. “There was a fire that burned in A.J. that I don’t think people see all the time. But, man, what a good football player he was.”

Dalton’s other favorite moment of Green’s career was their game-winning touchdown against the Falcons in 2018. When they had dinner recently, they relived the moment.

With seven seconds left in that game and the Bengals at the 13-yard line, Green found a weak point in Atlanta’s zone coverage and snuck open in the back corner of the end zone. He made a diving catch that got the Bengals a 37-36 win in Week 4.

“I had been watching him be great for so many years from afar,” said Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard, who was a rookie on the 2018 Bengals. “To finally be on the team and to get to experience a win on his hands was a special moment.”

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green had a big celebration after one of his final signature moments with the Bengals, a diving touchdown catch in 2018.

Four weeks later, Green left the Bengals’ game against the Buccaneers with a foot injury. He missed seven of the Bengals’ final eight games in 2018, and then Green missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury.

Green had a quiet year with the Bengals in 2020, catching 47 passes as a secondary option on the Bengals during quarterback Joe Burrow’s rookie season. He spent the next two years with the Arizona Cardinals and retired after the 2022 season.

On Sunday, Green will be recognized against the Ravens team he torched throughout his career. In 2015, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh famously said, "One of these days, we'll figure out how to cover A.J. Green. It'd be nice if we did it one time before he retires."

Harbaugh never quite made that happen.

“A.J. was always going to show up and make a play for his teammates when we needed him,” Jackson said. “I knew where the ball was going to go because you have A.J. Green on your team. When A.J. Green is on your team, he gets the ball.”

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-honor-retired-receiver-j-135311758.html?src=rss

He was a great receiver trying to make catches from Mr.Average QB.

 

Tee Higgins is his clone .

 

[|Elflocko|]

Supremely talented,  and pure class. But the play that sticks with me is the sure touchdown dropping through his hands against SD in the playoffs. Yes, Dalton was a mediocre QB, but AJ never stepped it up in the playoffs even when the opportunity was literally in his hands. 

[Cricket]

2 hours ago, Elflocko said:

Supremely talented,  and pure class. But the play that sticks with me is the sure touchdown dropping through his hands against SD in the playoffs. Yes, Dalton was a mediocre QB, but AJ never stepped it up in the playoffs even when the opportunity was literally in his hands. 

Mostly true….but there was the year that after the playoff loss, the coaches admitted that they were using Green as a decoy.  
 

Talk about outsmarting yourself…sheesh.  🤪

[|BlackJesus|]

[|BlackJesus|]

[Le Tigre]

Will be sporting my old AJ jersey tomorrow at PBS in his honor. 

[claptonrocks]

27 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Will be sporting my old AJ jersey tomorrow at PBS in his honor. 

Classy...

Go Bengals..

[|BlackJesus|]

[|High School Harry|]

Uberprops to Pumpkin and the Punmkinettes

for coming up with this right before the home opener.

Brilliant!  And very, very, cool.

[New Jersey Bengal]

On 9/16/2023 at 5:03 PM, BlackJesus said:

Class act great player