By JOE KAY,

Associated Press

10:26 PM Thursday, December 1, 2011

CINCINNATI — Quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green hit it off right away, realizing their personalities and talents were a good fit at the NFL scouting combine.

When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Green in the first round and Dalton in the second last April, they had already hit it off.

“Once training camp started, the way we were able to connect, and bond on the field started to increase,” Dalton said. “It was early on.”

In only a few months, they’ve become one of the NFL’s most dangerous pass-and-catch pairings.

Green’s 51-yard catch-and-run off a trusting throw from Dalton set up Cincinnati’s 23-20 win over Cleveland on Sunday that kept the Bengals (7-4) in the playoff hunt. It also threw another chill into opposing defensive backs, who aren’t going to relish facing this duo for years to come.

“They’re well beyond their years as far as athletically and their knowledge of football,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said. “They’re going to get better, but we totally expect them to be at the top of their game, the top of the NFL game right now, and they are now.”

They’re just getting started.

Dalton, the 35th overall pick out of TCU, and Green, the fourth pick from Georgia, already are one of the best rookie duos in recent decades.

They’ve combined for five touchdown passes, the fourth-highest total for a rookie quarterback and receiver since 1950, according to STATS LLC. New England’s Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha had nine in 1971; Cleveland’s Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson had eight in 1999; St. Louis’ Tony Banks and Eddie Kennison had seven in 1996.

The Bengals duo has accounted for 43 completions, fourth-most since 1991, according to STATS. Couch and Johnson had 57 in 1999, when the Browns returned as an expansion team.

Dalton and Green have accounted for 704 yards together, the third-highest total since 1991. Couch and Johnson had 859 yards.

They have five games left to climb in those categories, using their big-play abilities to pull out games and keep the Bengals one of the NFL’s biggest surprises.

“You put somebody one-on-one with A.J., and you (just) throw the ball down the field,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “You can talk about Xs and Os all you want, but that X is pretty special.”

They started showing it early on.

During the Bengals’ second practice of training camp, Dalton severely underthrew a long pass down the right sideline. Green was able to stop, come back toward the ball and jump over safety Chris Crocker’s shoulder to make a sensational catch that showed Dalton something.

“I remember we had a double move on, and I underthrew it a little bit and he jumped over a couple guys and made the catch,” Dalton said.

Dalton never again hesitated just to throw it Green’s way. During a game against Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, Dalton eluded the rush and saw Green heading into the end zone with both Steelers safeties around him. He let it fly, and Green jumped above Troy Polamalu for a 36-yard touchdown.

Green hyperextended his right knee when he landed on the play, forcing him to the sideline for most of the 24-17 loss and a 31-24 loss in Baltimore the following week. He was back to making the game-changing play against Cleveland.

“I’ve always thought he’s special,” Whitworth said. “You’ve got a guy that anytime you get one more shot, he’s got a shot to go up and get it. Any play can be the next ‘best’ play. That’s just how he is.”

His play against the Browns set up the winning field goal and prompted coach Marvin Lewis to gush, something he rarely does.

“He’s the best first-round draft pick I’ve ever been around,” said Lewis, who was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore when linebacker Ray Lewis was a first-round pick in 199. “He continues to amaze me.”

Green expects the ball his way even when he’s covered.

“It’s like a dream when I’m 1-on-1,” said Green, who leads NFL rookies in yards receiving and touchdowns. “I’m thinking that anywhere he throws the ball gives me a chance to make the catch.”

Dalton has been nearly as impressive in his own way. The NFL’s lockout prevented him from learning a new offense over the summer. He had only two weeks to get ready for the first preseason game once training camp opened.

Dalton already has set a Bengals rookie record with 16 touchdown passes overall. Peyton Manning holds the season record for a rookie with 26 in 1998.

Dalton, too, is doing things rarely accomplished by a rookie.

“He keeps doing it,” Whitworth said. “I’ve said since we showed up in July that I thought there was something special about him.”

Their biggest test comes Sunday in Pittsburgh (8-3), where the Bengals need a win to stay in the AFC North race. It’s likely to come down to the two rookies. “Usually, it’s so rare to see rookies come in and do so well,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “And then to see the two of them do it like that, that’s an awesome chemistry.”

Quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green hit it off right away, realizing their personalities and talents were a good fit at the NFL scouting combine.
When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Green in the first round and Dalton in the second last April, they had already hit it off.
“Once training camp started, the way we were able to connect, and bond on the field started to increase,” Dalton said. “It was early on.”
In only a few months, they’ve become one of the NFL’s most dangerous pass-and-catch pairings.
Green’s 51-yard catch-and-run off a trusting throw from Dalton set up Cincinnati’s 23-20 win over Cleveland on Sunday that kept the Bengals (7-4) in the playoff hunt. It also threw another chill into opposing defensive backs, who aren’t going to relish facing this duo for years to come.
“They’re well beyond their years as far as athletically and their knowledge of football,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said. “They’re going to get better, but we totally expect them to be at the top of their game, the top of the NFL game right now, and they are now.”
They’re just getting started.
Dalton, the 35th overall pick out of TCU, and Green, the fourth pick from Georgia, already are one of the best rookie duos in recent decades.
They’ve combined for five touchdown passes, the fourth-highest total for a rookie quarterback and receiver since 1950, according to STATS LLC. New England’s Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha had nine in 1971; Cleveland’s Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson had eight in 1999; St. Louis’ Tony Banks and Eddie Kennison had seven in 1996.
The Bengals duo has accounted for 43 completions, fourth-most since 1991, according to STATS. Couch and Johnson had 57 in 1999, when the Browns returned as an expansion team.
Dalton and Green have accounted for 704 yards together, the third-highest total since 1991. Couch and Johnson had 859 yards.
They have five games left to climb in those categories, using their big-play abilities to pull out games and keep the Bengals one of the NFL’s biggest surprises.
“You put somebody one-on-one with A.J., and you (just) throw the ball down the field,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “You can talk about Xs and Os all you want, but that X is pretty special.”
They started showing it early on.
During the Bengals’ second practice of training camp, Dalton severely underthrew a long pass down the right sideline. Green was able to stop, come back toward the ball and jump over safety Chris Crocker’s shoulder to make a sensational catch that showed Dalton something.
“I remember we had a double move on, and I underthrew it a little bit and he jumped over a couple guys and made the catch,” Dalton said.
Dalton never again hesitated just to throw it Green’s way. During a game against Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, Dalton eluded the rush and saw Green heading into the end zone with both Steelers safeties around him. He let it fly, and Green jumped above Troy Polamalu for a 36-yard touchdown.
Green hyperextended his right knee when he landed on the play, forcing him to the sideline for most of the 24-17 loss and a 31-24 loss in Baltimore the following week. He was back to making the game-changing play against Cleveland.
“I’ve always thought he’s special,” Whitworth said. “You’ve got a guy that anytime you get one more shot, he’s got a shot to go up and get it. Any play can be the next ‘best’ play. That’s just how he is.”
His play against the Browns set up the winning field goal and prompted coach Marvin Lewis to gush, something he rarely does.
“He’s the best first-round draft pick I’ve ever been around,” said Lewis, who was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore when linebacker Ray Lewis was a first-round pick in 199. “He continues to amaze me.”
Green expects the ball his way even when he’s covered.
“It’s like a dream when I’m 1-on-1,” said Green, who leads NFL rookies in yards receiving and touchdowns. “I’m thinking that anywhere he throws the ball gives me a chance to make the catch.”
Dalton has been nearly as impressive in his own way. The NFL’s lockout prevented him from learning a new offense over the summer. He had only two weeks to get ready for the first preseason game once training camp opened.
Dalton already has set a Bengals rookie record with 16 touchdown passes overall. Peyton Manning holds the season record for a rookie with 26 in 1998.
Dalton, too, is doing things rarely accomplished by a rookie.
“He keeps doing it,” Whitworth said. “I’ve said since we showed up in July that I thought there was something special about him.”
Their biggest test comes Sunday in Pittsburgh (8-3), where the Bengals need a win to stay in the AFC North race. It’s likely to come down to the two rookies.
“Usually, it’s so rare to see rookies come in and do so well,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “And then to see the two of them do it like that, that’s an awesome chemistry.”

“Once training camp started, the way we were able to connect, and bond on the field started to increase,” Dalton said. “It was early on.”

In only a few months, they’ve become one of the NFL’s most dangerous pass-and-catch pairings.

Green’s 51-yard catch-and-run off a trusting throw from Dalton set up Cincinnati’s 23-20 win over Cleveland on Sunday that kept the Bengals (7-4) in the playoff hunt. It also threw another chill into opposing defensive backs, who aren’t going to relish facing this duo for years to come.

“They’re well beyond their years as far as athletically and their knowledge of football,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said. “They’re going to get better, but we totally expect them to be at the top of their game, the top of the NFL game right now, and they are now.”

They’re just getting started.

Dalton, the 35th overall pick out of TCU, and Green, the fourth pick from Georgia, already are one of the best rookie duos in recent decades.

They’ve combined for five touchdown passes, the fourth-highest total for a rookie quarterback and receiver since 1950, according to STATS LLC. New England’s Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha had nine in 1971; Cleveland’s Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson had eight in 1999; St. Louis’ Tony Banks and Eddie Kennison had seven in 1996.

The Bengals duo has accounted for 43 completions, fourth-most since 1991, according to STATS. Couch and Johnson had 57 in 1999, when the Browns returned as an expansion team.

Dalton and Green have accounted for 704 yards together, the third-highest total since 1991. Couch and Johnson had 859 yards.

They have five games left to climb in those categories, using their big-play abilities to pull out games and keep the Bengals one of the NFL’s biggest surprises.

“You put somebody one-on-one with A.J., and you (just) throw the ball down the field,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “You can talk about Xs and Os all you want, but that X is pretty special.”

They started showing it early on.

During the Bengals’ second practice of training camp, Dalton severely underthrew a long pass down the right sideline. Green was able to stop, come back toward the ball and jump over safety Chris Crocker’s shoulder to make a sensational catch that showed Dalton something.

“I remember we had a double move on, and I underthrew it a little bit and he jumped over a couple guys and made the catch,” Dalton said.

Dalton never again hesitated just to throw it Green’s way. During a game against Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, Dalton eluded the rush and saw Green heading into the end zone with both Steelers safeties around him. He let it fly, and Green jumped above Troy Polamalu for a 36-yard touchdown.

Green hyperextended his right knee when he landed on the play, forcing him to the sideline for most of the 24-17 loss and a 31-24 loss in Baltimore the following week. He was back to making the game-changing play against Cleveland.

“I’ve always thought he’s special,” Whitworth said. “You’ve got a guy that anytime you get one more shot, he’s got a shot to go up and get it. Any play can be the next ‘best’ play. That’s just how he is.”

His play against the Browns set up the winning field goal and prompted coach Marvin Lewis to gush, something he rarely does.

“He’s the best first-round draft pick I’ve ever been around,” said Lewis, who was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore when linebacker Ray Lewis was a first-round pick in 199. “He continues to amaze me.”

Green expects the ball his way even when he’s covered.

“It’s like a dream when I’m 1-on-1,” said Green, who leads NFL rookies in yards receiving and touchdowns. “I’m thinking that anywhere he throws the ball gives me a chance to make the catch.”

Dalton has been nearly as impressive in his own way. The NFL’s lockout prevented him from learning a new offense over the summer. He had only two weeks to get ready for the first preseason game once training camp opened.

Dalton already has set a Bengals rookie record with 16 touchdown passes overall. Peyton Manning holds the season record for a rookie with 26 in 1998.

Dalton, too, is doing things rarely accomplished by a rookie.

“He keeps doing it,” Whitworth said. “I’ve said since we showed up in July that I thought there was something special about him.”

Their biggest test comes Sunday in Pittsburgh (8-3), where the Bengals need a win to stay in the AFC North race. It’s likely to come down to the two rookies.

“Usually, it’s so rare to see rookies come in and do so well,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “And then to see the two of them do it like that, that’s an awesome chemistry.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green practiced Wednesday for the first time since hyperextending his right knee on Nov. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Green is still day to day, but said he was cautiously optimistic about a return to the field on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns after sitting out the Bengals’ 31-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“Playing football people get hurt, but I hope we can be back this week,” Green told the Bengals’ team website.

Tight end Donald Green (foot) also returned to practice after missing the last two games. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap (hamstring) did not practice.

CINCINNATI – Adam “Pacman” Jones says his eagerness to play Sunday in Tennessee has nothing to do with what happened during his stormy three years as a Titan.

After a year away because of a neck injury, the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback and punt returner just wants to get on the field for an entire game.

The Bengals (5-2) will visit the place where Jones’ career started with such great promise and crashed so fast. He was the sixth overall pick in 2005 and earned a starting job as a rookie, but let his career quickly unravel with a series of arrests and suspensions.

Now 28, Jones has revived his career with the Bengals, who signed him last season after he’d been out of football for a year. The game on Sunday is a chance to show Tennessee (4-3) that he’s still around.

“I know people are like, ‘He can’t wait to get back down there and show off’ or this and that,” Jones said. “But I’ve came to past with Tennessee. I have no regrets. I’m happy here in Cincinnati. The city of Cincinnati is what I’m worried about. I could care less about Tennessee.”

His immediate concern is a sore hamstring that could keep him out of the game.

Jones signed a two-year deal with Cincinnati last year, getting a chance to revive his career. He injured a neck disc in October and needed surgery. He had another procedure over the summer, pushing back his return.

Jones finally got back on the field last Sunday in Seattle. The first time he touched the ball, he returned a punt 63 yards to set up a touchdown in a 34-12 win. He grabbed the right hamstring as he ran out of bounds on the return, then spent the rest of the game on the sideline.

He said the hamstring was at about 60 percent strength by midweek, leaving him questionable for the game. He worked out on Wednesday and Thursday but didn’t participate in practice.

“I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize myself, first of all, or what we’re trying to do as a team,” Jones said. “If it’s better for me to sit out this week and wait till next week to play for myself and my team, that’s what I would do.

“Like I said, we’ll make decisions accordingly. Right now, I don’t know.”

The Bengals will try to extend their winning streak to five games, something they haven’t done since their Super Bowl season of 1988. After that comes a stretch that will define their season — games against Pittsburgh, at Baltimore, against Cleveland and in Pittsburgh.

Jones wants to be part of the second-half push. He was encouraged to make an impact the first time he touched the ball, then extremely discouraged that he’d get only the one play because he got hurt.

“So my mind is racing every which-a-way now,” he said. “But these guys are doing good to keep me positive and keep my spirits up, so just take it one day at a time and let it play itself out.”

Jones said it took him a couple of years to come to peace with what happened in Tennessee, where he was suspended by the team for one game in 2006 and by the NFL for the entire 2007 season because of his arrests. He was traded to Dallas in 2008 and suspended again. Jones was out of football in 2009.

He’s had one arrest while with the Bengals. He pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for a disturbance at a downtown bar last July. He’s scheduled for trial on Nov. 17.

Jones is one of eight NFL players subject to discipline from the league for incidents that occurred during the lockout this summer. Teammate Cedric Benson missed the win in Seattle while serving a one-game suspension for his offseason arrest in Texas.

“My experience with Adam has been excellent,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “I’m very close with (former Titans coach) Jeff Fisher, really talked with Jeff a lot about Adam before when Adam was still a Titan and once we decided to bring him here. I think he’s grown up a lot. I feel he knows he’s made a lot of error in judgment. It’s unfortunate that a guy could go into college and spend three years on a college campus and not learn some of the things really they should learn.

“But hopefully he’s learned those lessons now. He’s been a great teammate to the guys here, very supportive of everyone.”

Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who moved into a starting role during Jones’ season-long suspension in 2007, is looking forward to seeing him again.

“You always hope he plays,” Finnegan said. “You never want a guy to be hurt, and he’s just so electrifying in the punt return, what he did there. I want to see him out there. I want to be able to talk to him, see how he’s doing.”

___

AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.