The good news is that after originally being declared out of Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 12) in Baltimore, wide receiver A.J. Green (toe) was elevated to doubtful Friday. The bad news is he didn't practice at all for the second straight week and still has only a 25 percent chance to play. All of which is tough news for a Bengals team that has ruled out another wide receiver, Josh Malone (hamstring), and made another one, John Ross (groin), questionable after he was listed as full-go for Friday's walk-through.
Also declared doubtful was Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (hip), so with Lamar Jackson going full Friday after Thursday's illness it looks like Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is trying to even his record against quarterbacks making their first NFL start at 4-4 with one of those losses coming against Flacco in the 2008 opener in Baltimore. He's 18-13 against rookie QBs, 11-6 since 2006.
That leaves the Bengals with Tyler Boyd, Alex Erickson and rookie Auden Tate (looking for his first NFL catch) as the only receivers not on the injury report. Two starting linebackers were ruled out with knee injuries, middle backer Preston Brown and SAM backer Nick Vigil, and the other starter, WILL backer Vontaze Burfict (hip), was classified as questionable after he went limited all week. In preparation for potential depth problems, the Bengals called up linebacker Brandon Bell from the practice squad and Tyler Kroft (foot) became the fourth tight end to go on season-ending injured reserve. Bell makes his season debut after playing in three games last year as a rookie.
But it looks linebacker Vincent Rey (groin), who went full Friday, can go because he wasn't given a status. Neither was slot cornerback Darqueze Dennard (neck), who went full Friday in an effort to play for the first time since Oct. 14. Also not given a status after going full Friday following a limited day or two was running back Joe Mixon (knee) and right guard Alex Redmond (hamstring). Starting cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick went full Friday after being limited Thursday and is questionable.
Also ruled out was back-up defensive tackle Adolphus Washington (knee).
