After a week of preparation and a public declaration of health, A.J. Green will not play in Week 16, and apparently not Week 17 either.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that, with the team out of the playoff picture, the Cincinnati Bengals will not push Green and will instead keep him out of the team’s final two games.
As much as AJ Green wants to play through hamstring injury, Bengals not expected to let him play in either of final two games, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 24, 2016
All week long, Green was being prepped to play by the team, with his injured hamstring apparently healed up. So what changed? According to ESPN’s Bob Holtzman, ownership stepped in. It apparently has not gone over well with Green or the rest of the team.
It makes sense that ownership wants to protect their prize asset. You can also understand why Green would be annoyed, as he’s been talking all week about playing. If ownership was going to force Green to sit, it seems like they could have voiced that declaration sooner than Friday night, less than 24 hours before the game.
