Appearing Wednesday on NFL Network's Top 100 Reaction Show, A.J. Green left no doubt about his high regard for Andy Dalton as the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback.
New coordinator Hue Jackson has gone a step further, telling NFL Media columnist Michael Silver that he and Dalton are "joined at the hip."
"We are tethered together. And I'll jump off a building with this guy," Jackson told Silver, "because I believe in the things he's trying to accomplish with his career, and I think I can help him."
Jackson's public support is no surprise. As NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks explained on the Around The League Podcast last month, Jackson's style is to challenge his players while simultaneously raising expectations and dishing out hyperbole.
His comments to Silver come just a week after declaring the Dalton-Green connection the best in the business. The Dave Dameshek Football Podcast promptly called Jackson's bluff, rattling off 10 superior quarterback-receiver tandems.
In a moment of candidness, Jackson acknowledged earlier in the offseason that Dalton must play better on the NFL's biggest stage to get the Bengals over the postseason hump.
That statement jibes with reports out of Cincinnati that Jackson wants to emulate the Seahawks' run-heavy approach as a means toward decreasing Dalton's turnover sprees and bouts of inconsistency while preparing the offense for the grind-it-out nature of the NFL playoffs.
It's not a great sign for Dalton's market value that his coaching staff is planning to decrease the quarterback's responsibilities in a make-or-break contract year.
If Dalton ends up getting his wish for a contract on par with those of Jay Cutler and Tony Romo, the pressure will be on Jackson to ensure that his quarterback starts playing like the face of the franchise come January.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" makes sense of the Andre Johnson situation and pitches ways to fix the "Top 100."
