Don't take it personally, A.J. Green, but Bills coach Rex Ryan would rather not see you on Sunday.
"I saw where he was hobbled a little bit. I think (Bengals coach) Marvin (Lewis) should rest him this week and that would be my advice to Marvin," Ryan quipped Wednesday of the Bengals star wideout, per ESPN.com's Katherine Terrell. "He's not really asking me, but just, friend to friend."
Who can blame Ryan? Green is putting together a monstrous campaign with a whopping 964 yards through the air, which ranks second only to Atlanta's Julio Jones. If he tops 36 yards on Sunday, Green will join Randy Moss as the only two players in NFL lore with 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of their first six seasons.
Buffalo has done a solid job stopping teams through the air. Tied with Seattle, the Bills are relinquishing a 10th-best 242 yards per game and haven't allowed a quarterback to pass for 300-plus yards since Week 2. As Ryan notes, though, they haven't dealt with a talent like Green.
"Oh, god. Please, he's the best receiver we've faced all year," Ryan said. "It's not even close. ... What an amazing talent."
Green's potential to wreak havoc is only helped by the return of Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert. After a slow start against the Browns in Week 7, the pass-catcher has piled up 198 yards and a touchdown off 12 grabs in two games since.
"He's a real talent," Ryan said, per The Buffalo News. "You know he missed six games. I wish he missed ours. He missed six games and it's hard to replace a guy with that kind of skill set."
Ryan is lobbying hard for any Bengal with a speck of talent to sit this one out, but that's not how the NFL works. His upstart Bills will need to temper both Green and Eifert if they plan to jump to 5-5 and stay alive in the AFC wild-card hunt.
