Richard Skinner

rskinner@nky.com

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters who cover the Tennessee Titans via a conference call on Wednesday that he expects injured wide receiver A.J. Green to play on Sunday, while Green told Cincinnati reporters he is simply hopeful to play, although he didn't practice on Wednesday.

The Bengals (2-0) host the Titans (1-1) at 1 p.m. in Paul Brown Stadium.

Green left this past Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons in the first series and didn't return after an injury to what he said was his big toe. He said he actually suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Bengals' season-opener in Baltimore, but he finished that game and caught the game-winning 77-yard touchdown pass.

He was limited in practice last Wednesday because of that and didn't practice on Thursday, but did return to practice on Friday. He said the injury became too painful for him to continue on Sunday.

"It's just getting the range of motion back on that big toe," said Green. "That's the biggest thing, because I'm always on that. I feel good. I still have some treatment to do, but it's getting better."

Green said it didn't surprise him when the toe forced him to leave the game against the Falcons.

"I knew it was still a little tender, but I thought I could make it through," said Green, who failed to catch a pass in a game for the first time in his now four-year NFL career. "I couldn't get my full extension on my foot and I need that to run my routes. I didn't want to go out there and hurt myself even more."

Green said he plans to practice on Thursday and see how the toe responds, which may go a long way toward determining whether he can play on Sunday or not.

"It's going to be key," he said. "I'm going to go back tomorrow and see what happens, but I think I'll be fine."

Lewis sounded as if he expected Green to play, when he talked with reporters who cover the Titans.

He told those reporters, "we're going to have 46 healthy and ready bodies ready to go," and when asked if Green would play said, "I would say A.J. (Green) would be one of those 46 bodies."

The Bengals have a bye after Sunday's game, but Green scoffed at the notion of him not playing this week to give him two full weeks to heal with 13 games still to play after the bye.

"If it's feeling good, then I'm going to go. If not, we'll take it from there," said Green. "I'm not thinking about taking a week off just to rest it some more because, if I'm fine, if I can go, I'm going to go. My body heals pretty quickly. I think I'll be fine."