Today’s game
Who: Cincinnati Bengals (0-0) vs. Chicago Bears (0-0)
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: Chs. 7, 12
Radio: 700-AM, 1530-AM, 102.7-FM, 104.7 FM
Everything about Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green screams superstar, except Green himself.
The soft-handed and even softer-voiced Green has put together two of the greatest seasons in NFL history for a wide receiver starting his career, and he’s done it without thumping his chest, patting his back or running his mouth.
“That’s just my upbringing,” the 25-year-old native of Summerville, S.C., said. “I’ve been a humble kid since I was little. I’ve never been one to talk, mainly because I always hung out with older kids and if I started bragging they’d probably beat me up.
“It’s always been about business for me,” Green continued. “And there’s no reason to change once I got to this level.”
By “this level,” Green simply means the NFL.
But it’s clear there exists multiple levels within the league, and he has already worked his way into the top one as he begins his third season today at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears.
Green’s 162 career catches are the second most in NFL history by a player in his first two seasons. Only Marques Colston had more (168).
Last year Green became the second player in 48 years to catch at least one touchdown pass in nine consecutive games, a streak that is tied with Lance Alworth, who had nine in 1963), for third longest in NFL history. Only Jerry Rice (12 in 197) and Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (10 in 1951) had longer stretches.
Alworth, Rice and Hirsch are all Hall of Famers, and while it’s far too early to start carving a bust for Green in Canton, it is worth noting that none of those other three legends had more touchdown catches in their first two seasons than the 18 Green has recorded.
In fact, of the 22 wide receivers in the Hall of Fame, only Bob Hayes had more receiving TDs (25) in his first two seasons than Green.
“He wants to be one of the best ever,” Bengals wide receiver coach James Urban said. “But he’s very cautious to say ‘one of’ the best ever.’ He has a lot of respect for the game, and a lot of respect for the guys we play against and the other receivers in the league. So he has this mentality that he doesn’t want to disrespect them by saying he wants to be ‘the’ best.”
It’s just like his childhood again, minus the threat of a whupping. And now the “older kids” are named Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Reggie Wayne and Roddy White.
“Those are the guys I measure myself against,” Green said. “Those guys have been doing it for a long time on a consistent basis. That’s the key at this position, being consistent and doing it week after week, year after year.”
There were times last year when it was tough to do it week after week. The Bengals went into the season without a clear No. 2 receiver, and as soon as rookie Mohamed Sanu began emerging as that guy, he suffered a season-ending stress fracture.
Defenses had been rolling their coverage to Green’s side of the field all year, but after Sanu went down the heat on Green really escalated.
But so, too, did his numbers.
“Before we drafted him, I remember talking to A.J. about that,” Urban said. “I said, ‘Hey, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson – go down the list of the great ones that are playing in this league – they get coverage all the time. And every year they still get their numbers. It’s not because people aren’t covering them. It’s because they’re beating coverage.”
Green was at his best when the team needed it most last year in Game 15 at Pittsburgh. Not only did the Steelers focus their coverages on Green, they completely negated the option of running the ball by holding the Bengals to 14 yards rushing.
But Green found a way to get open enough to tie his career high with 10 receptions, including a 21-yarder in the final seconds that set up the Josh Brown’s game-winning, playoff-clinching field goal.
It is also worth noting, of course, that Green’s tremendous numbers in his first two seasons have not come as a result of his leaning on the experience and wisdom of a veteran quarterback. Andy Dalton and Green came into the league 31 picks apart in the 2011 draft, and their knowledge of the game, and each other, is only going to grow.
“As soon as we were both drafted, everybody already had linked us together,” Dalton said. “Before we even played a game. Now that we’ve played a couple years together, I expect us to play a lot more together. We’ve done some good things together since we’ve been here. We want to keep getting better and keep doing things to win games. Hopefully we’ll be doing that for a long time.”
Sometimes it’s difficult trying to wrap your head around the idea of Green getting even better.
Unless you’re Green.
“I’m never going to be satisfied with what I did in the past,” he said. “I’m always trying to get better. I’m not where I need to be. I’m only going into my third year. I’ve got a long way to go.”
And it appears there’s going to be more and more help along the way. Sanu and Marvin Jones have a year of experience behind them and should loosen the defenses. Plus the Bengals used their first-round pick on another pass-catching tight end in Tyler Eifert to go along with Jermaine Gresham. And then in the second round they added Giovanni Bernard, a pass-catching running back who can beat linebackers one-on-one and take even more of the focus off Green.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” Urban said. “Sometimes fame, money, success, they change people. But I’m not surprised they haven’t changed him. He talks to everybody. He’s a nice kid. He’s team-first. And he works so hard.
“He and I talk very openly about that all the time,” Urban continued. “He’s got a whole list of things right now in his mind to work on. I have a list, too. And the thing is, he has the ability to improve those things. It’s not like you’re trying and trying and it’s just not possible. He’s trying, and he keeps getting even better.”
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