Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver A.J. Green was never expected to play in today’s game against the Carolina Panthers, and the Bengals only listed him as questionable in order to throw the Panthers off and keep them prepared to face the elite wideout. Green is arguably the Bengals most important player on offense, and he’s even more important now with Marvin Jones still unable to play. Both Jones and Green are still questionable for a big Week 7 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, but, for now, we know that they’ll have to ride Mohamed Sanu and their running game today against a tough Panthers front seven that covers up a sub-standard secondary.
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Green isn’t the only key skill position player missing from today’s encounter between the Panthers and Bengals, as the Panthers will be forced to operate without a legitimate running game for yet another week. Like Green, oft-injured running back Jonathan Stewart was never expected to play today, though the Panthers did try and make him a game-time decision.
Stewart was listed questionable with a knee injury after somehow returning to practice on Thursday, but Ron Rivera and the Panthers always knew that he would be a 50-50 game-time decision. The former Oregon Ducks star has unsurprisingly ended up on the wrong side of the game-time decision coin, and holding out for Stewart’s health is never a wise investment of your hope.