Cincinnati Bengals' AJ Green plans for healthy 2020, no issue with possible franchise tag

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Cincinnati Bengals star A.J. Green has yet to play during the 2019 season and told reporters Tuesday that he won't play in the team’s final two games.

Green told the team’s website he will sit out for the rest of the season as he recovers from an ankle injury that has plagued him since the summer. Green said he was told he should be completely healthy for 2020 and should be able to have a normal offseason.

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“I feel good just getting confirmation from [foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson]. Knowing there’s no effect on my future,” he said. “Just hearing him saying it made me feel a lot better.”

Green suffered multiple torn ligaments in his ankle during the first practice of the season. Cincinnati never placed him on the injured reserve because a torn-ligament injury could take six weeks or up to six months to heal. Unfortunately for the Bengals, it was closer to the latter.

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Green was in the final year of a four-year, $60 million deal he signed in September 2015. Cincinnati reportedly might put the franchise tag on him to keep him with the team. Green said while he doesn’t like the idea of playing with the franchise tag, he would still play.

“I have no problem with the franchise [tag]. I don’t like it, but I’m not a guy that’s going to sit out the whole year,” Green told the team website. “But at the end of the day, that shows me they’re not committed to me. That’s fine. They have a business they have to run. As the player, I have my own business, so if you do that I have to protect myself.”

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When healthy, Green has been one of the best wide receivers in the league. He played nine games in 2018. He had 46 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl from 2011 to 2017.