CINCINNATI -- A.J. Green is planning on playing Sunday, when the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Pittsburgh for a prime-time contest hailed as the unofficial AFC North title game.
Green told ESPN minutes after Monday night's 37-28 win over the Denver Broncos that he had a bruised right biceps following a hard shot he suffered on the Bengals' second drive of the game.
Cameras caught Green grimacing multiple times as trainers tried to work on his arm on the sideline. At one point, he even went into the locker room for X-rays.
Green said the tests were negative and that he didn't think the injury would keep him from next week's regular-season finale.
"If I can go, I'm going. No matter what it is," Green said. "We're playing for something big. We're playing for home-field advantage."
With both the Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers having now clinched playoff berths, next week's winning team will claim the division championship. A win next week, coupled with a Broncos loss next Sunday to the Oakland Raiders, and Cincinnati could wind up the AFC's No. 2 seed when the playoffs begin in two weeks. As the 2-seed, the Bengals would have a first-round bye and would host a divisional-round game.
It will be important they have a healthy Green by then.
The fourth-year receiver was hurt on the first play of the Bengals' second possession when he reached up for a high throw from quarterback Andy Dalton. As he did, Green was able to get a hand on the ball before it ricocheted into cornerback Aqib Talib's hands. Untouched, Talib got up after the interception and sprinted 33 yards for a touchdown that put the Broncos up 7-0 early.
At the same time Talib was catching the ball, Green took a hard hit to his right arm from the helmet of another defensive back. In obvious pain, Green jogged right over to the Bengals sideline clutching his arm. He took off his helmet and was wincing. While he missed several plays immediately after, he later came back on an off-and-on basis.
When he would give the arm a go on the field, he had trouble contributing. He was targeted four times but didn't record a catch. It was the second time in his career he had zero receptions. The other time was in Week 2 versus the Atlanta Falcons, when he was part of just six plays due to a toe injury.
"As a receiver, it's hard to play with one arm," Green said, acknowledging that the toughest part of playing one-armed was dealing with Talib, who constantly bumped him off the line. "I was just trying to fight it and fight it as long as I can just to give us the best possible situation to win."