Bengals

continued from C1

The 2016 second-round draft pick has 620 yards and five touchdowns on a teamhigh 49 catches.

“At the end of the day, I’m going to keep my focus and not allow them to make me feel like I’m not going to get open or still continue to be a great player out there,” Boyd said. “I just want to do a great job of creating chances for myself to get open and just catch footballs.”

Double coverage can get frustrating at times, Boyd said; however, that just means other players will have more opportunity.

No one else has more than 19 catches this season, though. Joe Mixon and Uzomah are options – and maybe the Bengals ramp up the running game too — but of the wide receivers, Alex Erickson, Ross and Cody Core have combined for just 18 catches.

“I believe in the guys always, no matter what,” Boyd said. “Since A.J. is down, it opens a large percentage of balls thrown to the next guy, whoever comes in there and does what they have to do. The sky is the limit for whoever wants to come in and take full advantage.”

Ross is the guy the Bengals most need to step up, assuming he returns this week as expected.

Hampered by a groin injury, he’s been limited in five games and has just 79 yards (but two touchdowns) on seven catches. Ross struggled with confidence last year and was heavily criticized earlier this season for stopping on routes and causing interceptions.

“We just need him to play his game,” Dalton said. “I’m glad we’re getting him back (from injury). He’s going to be a big part of what we do. He just needs to play his game and not worry about anything else.”

Dalton said Boyd has been playing with a lot of confidence and the team just needs some of that to rub off on the other players.

“You try to get everybody to play that way,” Dalton said. “Confidence is contagious. With the way he carries himself, how Joe Mixon carries himself and some of these other guys, it will rub off on everybody. You want to play fast and play your best, and that’s what we’re going to try to do with everybody we’ve got out there.”

Regardless of how the Bengals adjust, there is no doubt the offense is impacted.

Green, who leads the team with 687 receiving yards and six touchdown catches on 45 receptions, has played in 110 of a possible 122 games since the Bengals drafted him fourth overall in 2011, and Cincinnati is 4-7-1 without him on the field.

The seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver most recently missed the final six games of the 2016 season after injuring his hamstring in the first quarter of a game against Buffalo. The Bengals went 3-3 the rest of the way and also lost that game to the Bills, as the offensive production went from averaging 380 yards per game with Green to 326 yards per game without him.