Cincinnati’s Green has ankle surgery
A.J. Green had ankle surgery Tuesday and is expected to miss the start of the season, another significant setback for the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense.
Green hurt his left ankle during the opening practice of camp Saturday in Dayton, landing awkwardly after cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick bumped into the star receiver while breaking up a pass.
Coach Zac Taylor said Green had surgery Tuesday morning and likely won’t be ready for the start of the season. Cincinnati opens at Seattle on Sept. 8 and then hosts San Francisco. The Bengals visit Buffalo the third week followed by a Monday night game at Pittsburgh on Sept. 30.
“He’s going to miss some regularseason games,” Taylor said. “How many, I don’t know. Very hopefully he’s back at the beginning of the regular season and it’s not more than a couple of games.”
It’s the second straight season that Green has suffered a significant injury. He missed half of last season with an injured right toe that required surgery. The Bengals went easy with him during off-season workouts, and he felt fully recovered for the start of training camp.
Less than an hour into the first practice, he got hurt. The Bengals were practicing in Dayton – commemorating the site of the NFL’s first game – when Kirkpatrick bumped into him during a 7on-7 drill.
The Bengals initially were optimistic that it was just a sprained ankle, but a specialist recommended surgery to help the healing process.
“We’re thankful they saw everything they saw, and it’s just going to be a couple of games and we’re going to get it all taken care of,” Taylor said.
Luck is shelved: Andrew Luck’s injured left leg isn’t getting any better.
So the Indianapolis Colts are sitting down their biggest star.
Luck missed practice in suburban Indianapolis after telling coaches his strained calf felt worse following the first week of training camp. Coach Frank Reich announced Luck would be sidelined at least three more days and would miss next week’s preseason opener at Buffalo.
“I’ve made progress ever since I started working on this issue, but the progress wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough,” Luck said. “I feel like something’s going to yank, something’s going to pull trying to change directions aggressively. That’s something you need to do to play football and I’m not there yet.”
The Colts have been playing it safe with Luck ever since he initially got hurt in the spring.
He missed the team’s offseason workouts, didn’t even throw to teammates on the West Coast leading into camp as he usually does and was limited to individual drills and 7-on-7 work last week.
Bears activate Clinton-Dix: The Chicago Bears removed safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from the physically unable to perform list and he began practicing.
Clinton-Dix suffered a knee sprain in minicamp in June and had not been on the field yet at training camp.
The Bears signed Clinton-Dix as an unrestricted free agent on a one-year, $3.25 million deal after he finished last season with the Washington Redskins. A 2014 first-round draft pick, ClintonDix had been traded at midseason to Washington by the Green Bay Packers.
Fitzpatrick is the front-runner: Coach Brian Flores said Ryan Fitzpatrick has become the front-runner in the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback competition ahead of Josh Rosen.
Flores said Fitzpatrick has shown great leadership and been more productive. But the first-year coach said the competition will continue.
Rosen had a rocky rookie season last season after being drafted in the first round by Arizona. Miami traded for him in April.