A.J. Green's status unclear Ravens-Bengals game

A.J. Green has been struggling with a toe injury all season. He admitted to battling it in Week 1, played only six snaps in Week 2 and was hobbled by it against the Titans and Patriots. It has caused him to miss the past two games, with the receiver missing Wednesday's practice. His status is up in the air.

Toe injuries are notorious for their lingering. Jonathan Ogden had his career ended by turf toe and while I don't think it's going to be that severe for Green, he certainly will feel it and he'll certainly not be 100% because of it.

The question here is whether his toe injury will keep him out of Week 8's matchup. If he is forced to miss the game that would be a significant blow to the Bengals offense. Green is a top five receiver, as well as Andy Dalton's favorite target, even more so with Tyler Eifert being out on IR-Designated Return and Marvin Jones out for the season.

Jimmy Smith shouldn't have too much of a difficult time shutting down Mohamed Sanu, and I doubt Lardarius Webb would struggle against Brandon Tate.

However, it's very possible Green plays. And a less-than-100-percent Green is still a dangerous weapon down the field. Coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Wednesday that the Ravens will be preparing for the Bengals as if Green is playing.

“You have to assume that any player on any team that might have a chance to play, you have to prepare for him, because he could be out there," Harbaugh said. "But you always look and see in the injury report and see whether they practiced or not. But, we’re not going to know anything, really, until they announce something, and that’s with any injury every week.”