Getty Cardinals WR A.J. Green lines up against the Chiefs during a preseason game.
Aside from the uniform, veteran wide receiver A.J. Green looks a lot like his old self.
He’s making clutch catches, using his combination of size, athleticism and experience to overpower and outsmart defenders. And perhaps most importantly, he’s having fun playing for the Arizona Cardinals.
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“I’m loving it,” Green said on the “Big Red Rage” radio show and podcast Thursday, September 29. “I found a spot that I’m having fun again. We’re winning and we have a great team.”
Green, 33, the longtime Cincinnati Bengals star, traded in the orange and black for Cardinals red during the offseason when he signed a one-year deal with Arizona. The change of scenery appears to have rejuvenated the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver who some had written off as being past his prime and a shadow of his former self.
“The new spot, the new atmosphere just gave me another boost,” Green said. “A lot of people said I couldn’t play again, that I’m losing a step, but I know the work that I put in each and every year. I still have a lot left in the tank, and I’m glad Arizona gave me this opportunity.”
Even his family back in South Carolina has seen a difference in Green when watching Cardinals games on TV this season.
“They called like, ‘Man, A.J., you’re just smiling and having fun again.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am.’ Winning brings happiness,” he said.
Green and his new teammates are looking to continue their winning ways when the Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams in a matchup of 3-0 teams Sunday, October 3. Kickoff for the NFC West showdown is set for 1:05 p.m. MST.
Saying Goodbye to Cincinnati
Now in his 11th NFL season, Green scored his first touchdown with the Cardinals in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings.
A.J. Green’s first TD with the #AZCardinals!
📺: #MINvsAZ on FOX
📱: NFL app
He followed that up in Week 3 in Jacksonville with his first 100-yard receiving game in nearly three years with a five-catch, 112-yard performance against the Jaguars.
Prime A.J. Green catch right here 😯
Prior to that game, the last time Green went over the century mark was October 21, 2018, when he had seven catches for 117 yards for the Bengals in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Green was among the best receivers in the game before injuries slowed down the Bengals star. He started his career with seven consecutive Pro Bowl selections, topping 1,000 receiving yards in six of those seasons. The lone exception was a 964-yard season in 2016.
In 2018, a foot injury sidelined him for seven games that season, and he missed the entire 2019 campaign after injuring his left ankle in the first practice of training camp. He returned to play all 16 games for the Bengals in 2020, but the 6-foot-4, 210-pound receiver was more of an afterthought in the offense and finished the season with a career-low 523 receiving yards.
“I loved my time in Cincinnati,” Green said. “I would never trade it for anything. I made some lifelong friends there in Cincinnati. But every good thing comes to an end.”
Still, the Bengals did a lot of losing toward the end of Green’s tenure, playing to a 77-80-3 record overall and a dismal 25-53-2 mark from 2016 to 2020.
GM Says Green Has ‘A Lot of Juice Left’
Despite the injuries and declining stats, Arizona general manager Steve Keim still believed in Green and what he could bring to the Cardinals.
At the time, Bleacher Report labeled Green’s one-year, $6 million deal as Arizona’s worst free-agent signing of the offseason. Reporter Alex Kay wrote:
While kicking the tires on Green makes sense for any contending team seeking to add a veteran to its receiving corps, the price tag Arizona paid is awfully high for a player who hasn’t produced at a high level in nearly a half-decade.
Following a quiet two-catch, 25-yard game in the season-opener against the Tennessee Titans, Green has been more involved in the offense, getting into the end zone against the Vikings and then leading the team in receiving vs. the Jaguars.
“It was nice to see A.J. have that kind of day because what we saw throughout camp,” Keim told Arizona Sports’ “Burns & Gambo” on Friday, October 1. “We a saw a big, athletic receiver who still has a lot of juice left and got really excited about him.”
Through three games this season, Green has 10 catches for 181 yards and one touchdown. He’s also emerged as an effective downfield weapon for quarterback Kyler Murray. Green leads the Cardinals in yards per reception at 18.1 per game, and his four catches of 20-plus yards are tied for the most in the NFL this season.
Most catches 20+ yards downfield:
🚀 Tyler Lockett – 4
🚀 A.J. Green – 4
🚀 Brandin Cooks – 4
Green ranks third in receiving yards in the Cardinals’ balanced passing attack, as Murray continues to spread the ball around:
- Christian Kirk: 15 catches (17 targets), 239 yards, two TDs.
- Rondale Moore: 13 catches (15 targets), 184 yards, one touchdown.
- A.J. Green: 10 catches (18 targets), 181 yards, one TD.
- DeAndre Hopkins: 13 catches (16 targets), 158 yards, three TDs.
- Chase Edmonds: 16 catches (17 targets), 121 yards.
- Maxx Williams: 10 catches (11 targets), 113 yards.
“We know that we have a lot of guys that can make plays on the ball,” Green said.
Defenses so far this season have focused mainly on slowing down Hopkins, opening the door for Green and Arizona’s other pass-catchers to have big games.
“(Hopkins) is a guy that’s going to demand a lot of coverage and make it easy for us,” Green said. “When they’re bracketing him, doubling him, we’ve got to eat to loosen up the coverage for him.”
Keim said the balanced production makes it difficult to stop the Cardinals’ passing game. If teams continue to focus on Hopkins, they run the risk of getting burned by Green, Kirk and Moore, he said.
“Depending on the way people play us, each week different players are going to have big games, big stats,” Keim said.