Can Mohamed Sanu Carry the Bengals Through the Air in A.J. Green's Absence?

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green was carted off of the practice field on Wednesday, apparently re-aggravating a toe injury that has already cost him one game. He's not expected to play on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

When asked whether Green is suffering from turf toe, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said to Ross Tucker of SiriusXM Radio that "it's a little bit more than that," indicating that Green could potentially be out longer than just one week. 

With the Bengals already thin at receiver, this is not good news. Marvin Jones, initially expected back for the team's Week 5 contest against the New England Patriots, suffered an ankle-sprain in practice and isn't likely to play this Sunday as reported by Bengals beat writer Paul Dehner Jr. Tight end Tyler Eifert is still a month away from returning, having been placed on the injured reserve-recall list for the dislocated elbow he suffered in Week 1.

So now the focus must shift, and it shifts squarely in the direction of third-year receiver Mohamed Sanu. That's not a bad thing.

Sanu has stepped up impressively this season, taking on the No. 2 wide receiver role previously held by Jones. He's been targeted 26 times thus far by quarterback Andy Dalton, with 17 receptions for 234 yards, 154 yards after the catch and two touchdowns.

Year	Tgts.	Rec.	Catch %	Yds.	YPR	TD	YAC
2012	25	26	63.6%	158	11.3	0	177
2013	78	47	60.3%	455	9.7	2	253
2014	26	17	65.4%	234	13.8	2	154
Total	129	80	62.0%	843	10.5	8	483

That's one target more than Green and exactly as many catches and receiving touchdowns. Sanu has also thrown two on-target passes, for 68 yards and a score. He possesses speed and versatility—he can catch, he can run and he can throw. He cannot carry the Bengals' offense on his own, but he possesses more than enough talent to be Dalton's key receiver this week.

The question, however, is how long Green will be sidelined and how this could impact the Bengals offense in the long term. 

Jones should return at some point soon, depending on the severity of his ankle sprain. Eifert will be back next month. However, while these players are sidelined, others will have to step up. Receivers of the likes of Brandon Tate and Dane Sanzenbacher as well as tight end Jermaine Gresham will be called upon to fill the void.

Tate has six catches on 10 targets for 74 yards, with his longest reception being a 50-yarder, coincidentally thrown by Sanu. Sanzenbacher has only three catches on five targets for 47 yards, having played just 69 snaps on the season according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Though Tate's production as a receiver is up from last year, when he caught just one pass on two targets, he's still not a reliable option at the position. He's primarily a returner—in six seasons in the NFL, he has only 44 catches and four receiving touchdowns.

Gresham isn't reliable, either. Even with Eifert out, he's been basically a non-factor in the Bengals offense, catching only eight passes on 13 targets for 61 yards. The biggest impact he's made was his dropped touchdown pass against the Patriots last Sunday.

Player	Tgts.	Rec.	Catch %	Yds.	YPR	TD	YAC
Bernard	22	14	63.6%	158	11.3	0	177
Hill	6	5	83.8%	90	18.0	0	85
Tate	10	6	60.0%	74	12.3	0	33
Gresham	13	8	61.5%	61	7.6	0	49
Sanzenbacher	5	3	60.0%	47	15.7	0	19

That means Sanu's compatriots in the receiving game will likely be the Bengals' two running backs, Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. Bernard is currently the team's third-leading receiver, with 14 catches on 22 targets for 158 yards. Though he has no receiving touchdowns, he does have a team-leading 177 yards after the catch.

Hill has been less involved in the passing game, but he has proved to be dependable, catching five of six passes thrown to him, for 90 yards, including 85 yards after the catch. Expect offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to get creative in devising ways for the two backs to get the football that doesn't involve just a basic handoff.

In fact, the Bengals' diverse and run-heavy offense means that Green's absence will be less damaging. Going into Week 5, Dalton had thrown only two touchdown passes; he added two more to that total against the Patriots.

The Bengals are rushing a 10th-ranked 30 times per game and 38 times on average at home. Losing Green only means that Hill and Bernard, who have a combined 96 carries for 380 yards and five scores, will be running the ball more often when they aren't fill-ins at receiver for Dalton.

Jackson also isn't worried about Green not playing, because this is the Bengals' offense, not Green's, as he noted to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Richard Skinner on Thursday:

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"[The injury is] why I never put together a game plan based on one guy. We're not going to crash our game plan. As a coordinator you just have to adapt. You never know what might happen. When we started the Atlanta game I thought [Green] was playing. We kept playing. We want to have all of our guys out there and if they are they are, if they're not they're not. They're not going to cancel the game. We have to go play."

"

While there's no doubt that Sanu will be the focus in the receiving game this week and for as long as both Green and Jones are sidelined, there are many other moving parts to Cincinnati's offense. Sanu doesn't need to carry the team, even if he has to shoulder most of the receiving load.

The situation the Bengals are headed into this week and for however long it takes for Green (and Jones) to get healthy is not ideal. But it's also not one that will necessarily break the one-loss team, either.