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A.J. Green and Julio Jones are among the SEC’s most productive alums at the next level as well as two of the best receivers in football. It’s fitting, then, that a Georgia product like Green would try to emulate Jones, who went to Alabama.
“Look at the year Julio Jones had,” Green told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “He was coming off an 1,800-yard season and he had what last year? [1,409.] That’s because they put all the weapons around him.
“He still made the same plays he made when he had the 1,800 yards, but when they double-teamed him they had [Mohamed Sanu] and [Taylor] Gabriel. They’ve got to respect those guys. They went to the Super Bowl and Julio had [1,400] yards. It’s all about what you want. That’s the ultimate goal is to win the championship.”
Despite being rivals in college, a mutual respect among the two players has been earned. As they have turned their All-SEC teams into All-Pro teams over the years, there is plenty of knowledge to be shared.
Though Jones’ Atlanta Falcons are coming off a Super Bowl where his Falcons blew the largest lead of all time, Green’s Cincinnati Bengals are winless in the playoffs despite qualifying for the postseason six straight times. Now, Cincinnati has missed the playoffs for the first time in that span, and Green is coming off of a troublesome hamstring injury that ended his season in Week 11.
At age 28, Green is coming into his role as a veteran. He says that team success outweighs individual accolades and that the Bengals’ young crop of talent could help alleviate the stress of being every defense’s focal point.
“That’s not who I am,” Green continued. “I know what I’m capable of doing. Never a doubt in my mind. Last year, I had opportunities and just took advantage of them. In 2015, I felt like I had a good season, but we had all the weapons. I didn’t have that many targets, but I still had good yardage.
“This year it’s just not me and Brandon [LaFell] and four young guys. Everything doesn’t have to be forced to me, which I like.”
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
