NFL teams
Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

A.J. Green (toe) making progress

NFL, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens

CINCINNATI -- The battered Bengals, shut out at Indianapolis over the weekend, may get a lift Sunday if the good news they have been receiving of late about A.J. Green's toe injury continues throughout the week.

Coach Marvin Lewis said during his news conference Monday that Green has "made a lot of progress." Those comments stand in stark contrast to ones he made Friday when he said the timing of Green's return was "up in the air."

For now, signs seem favorable that the Pro Bowler could return to action this Sunday when the Bengals host Baltimore.

"He's made significant progress and feels good about everything that he's being told," Lewis said Monday. "What the prognosis is is, I guess, the most important thing. It's been a consistent message he's gotten. As we said earlier, the time [off] will allow things to progress and so forth that way."

Green has been dealing all season with an injury to his right big toe that he considers "something like turf toe." After suffering the injury in the opening quarter of the Bengals' 23-16 win over the Ravens in Week 1, Green ended up playing through that game. He lasted just six plays the week after, removed because of pain from the injury. He has since missed two complete games, including Sunday's 27-0 loss to the Colts.

Before Sunday's game, the Bengals tweeted a short video of Green jogging along their sideline. The video was captioned "A.J. testing out his toe."

The Bengals amassed just 135 yards of total offense in the blowout. Receiver Mohamed Sanu, who slipped into Green's role, caught just three passes for 54 yards, including a 32-yard reception in the fourth quarter. The week before, he caught 10 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Along with Green, the Bengals also could have linebacker Vontaze Burfict back in the shuffle after he exited with a neck injury -- Lewis called it a "cervical strain" -- in the first quarter of Sunday's game.

When asked Monday about Burfict's status, Lewis replied, "He's fine."

A team official, citing doctors, refuted concerns that Burfict may have actually had a concussion. Still, concern exists over the linebacker who now has his third neck-or-higher injury this season.

He had concussions in the opener and the Week 2 game against the Falcons. Of Cincinnati's six games, Burfict has only finished one.

"Oh yeah, everyone's worried about him," veteran defensive tackle Domata Peko said. "But the mentality here is, if you're hurt or something, it's the next man's opportunity to come up. When you come into this league, you don't come to sit on the bench."

Without Burfict for much of the game, the Bengals allowed 508 yards of offense Sunday.

Lewis didn't provide updates on cornerback Leon Hall (lower back strain) and linebacker Emmanuel Lamur (shoulder), and wasn't optimistic about linebacker Rey Maualuga (hamstring), who isn't expected back for a few more weeks.

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