Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis ruled All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green out for Sunday's regular season finale against Baltimore earlier in the week, but on Saturday the team offered no room for speculation when it finally placed Green on injured reserve.
On Friday, Lewis said Green was around the facility, happy, smiling -- and the receiver issued a short statement addressing any rumor that he was unhappy with the club for not allowing him to play as "not true."
"He's a rare person, yes," Lewis said. "He's a very rare, rare person. As I told him, we're going to need to call on his rare abilities as we move forward, for him to bring everybody to his level all the time, being what he is, how he does things."
The move officially ends Green's season, though he has not played since the second snap of the game against Buffalo on Nov. 20. He was elected to the Pro Bowl despite playing in nine full games. He caught 66 passes for 964 yards and four touchdowns.
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