Zac Taylor on A.J. Green: ‘He makes me really happy’

The Cincinnati Bengals’ man at the helm, Zac Taylor, hasn’t been shy about his admiration for star wide receiver A.J. Green.

When Zac Taylor took the reins of the Cincinnati Bengals, he did so believing he would have A.J. Green, one of the league’s best receivers, at his disposal during his head coaching debut. As the orange and black faithful are well aware, injury ensured that wasn’t the case, and it showed in the loss column.

However, with Green now fully healthy, Taylor seems to be ecstatic to unleash his offense on the rest of the league, centered around the former Georgia Bulldog for the first time. He had this to say via the team’s official website,

"“He makes me really happy, just watching him walk through routes, even… It was just good to see him out there for the first day of practice.”"

It’s hard to blame Taylor for his excitement. Many have the past two injury-riddled seasons of Green’s career fresh in their mind. Few remember that he is a seven-time Pro-Bowler with a shot at the Hall of Fame if he can get back on track.

If Taylor gets the earlier version of Green, his presence will undoubtedly give him more confidence that he can show off his offensive prowess more adequately than he did in his first season.

This isn’t the first time Taylor expressed his admiration for A.J. Green

Zac Taylor has made his appreciation known for A.J. Green long before the opening of training camp. Earlier this year at the scouting combine, while the 32-year-old wideout’s future with the team was still up in the air, Taylor made it clear he wasn’t going to let Green slip out of his grasp,

"“We know he will be a Bengal come September… We want him to be a part of Cincinnati.”"

It’s been a long and winding path that included a lot of uncertainty, but here we are in August, and Taylor indeed got his wish.

Now, Taylor’s focus shifts to silencing the critics and proving that he can engineer a high-powered offense. The first step in accomplishing such a task is to take his admiration for Green and translate it to the field in the form of endless targets for the do-it-all wide receiver.