A.J. Green: ‘I wouldn’t trade Vontaze and Jones for anything’

A.J. Green showed great loyalty to his Bengals teammates after Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones’ actions cost them the game.

It was a stunning collapse by the Cincinnati Bengals, perhaps only one that they could’ve orchestrated. You could argue that Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones were the best players on the field all game, then once Burfict hit Brown, everything changed. Jones would later take to Instagram to let his feelings known in a profanity-laced rant. You would think such childish behaviour would bring on the scorn of your teammates. But not A.J. Green, who stood by them through all of this.

Speaking to Cincinnati.com (h/t NFL.com), this is what A.J. Green had to say in standing up to Burfict and Jones:

"Both guys, they’re professional. They play with their heart on their sleeves. That’s the way they play. I would love to have them on my team. I wouldn’t want to play against them. I hope we get Pac back. We definitely need him. We’ve got Vontaze for the next couple years. I love those guys. They play with emotion. They get me hyped. I wouldn’t trade them guys for thing."

They certainly played with emotion in their loss to the Steelers, but it was the wrong kind of emotion. This is an enviable move on Green’s part to stick up for his teammates. More than anything, he should’ve felt hard done by them as it was his touchdown that seemingly put the Bengals up for good. However, it’s hard to dismiss what Burfict and Jones did and label it as anything but inexcusable.

The fallout of this game has only just begun, and there’s no telling which direction it’s going to go. Many are speculating that Marvin Lewis should be fired whereas Burfict should, and probably will, be given a suspension for his hit on Brown which has since left him with a concussion.