Even A.J. Green is searching for answers.

Green’s Bengals just took a 33-7 whipping at home by way of a formerly three-win Chicago Bears team starting a rookie quarterback. Bengals players have cited a lack of energy and problems executing as the reasons for the disaster, which featured a stadium filled mostly with Bears fans by the fourth quarter.

As for Green himself, he had a handful of odd plays yet again. An errant pass got tipped and went for an interception and he got stripped on the sideline.

“Any great receiver will have patches,” Green told reporters after the game. “This has been a strange season. I feel like my focus is there, but things just happen. I have to pick my game up. I played like (bleep) today.”

Green was far from alone in his poor play. The offensive line collapsed, Andy Dalton’s accuracy faltered as the game wore on and the defense coughed up just shy of 500 total yards.

But Green’s strange season has been more consistent than most realize. We can even gloss over the fight with Jalen Ramsey resulting in his ejection and only look at his dropped and tipped passes to highlight the fact he’s had an uncharacteristically off season.

Statistically, Green is fine and well on his way to another 1,000-yard season based on his 950 yards and eight touchdowns. But the mistakes stick out more than the predictable production.

Of course, part of the problem might be the pieces surrounding Green, as he’s sitting on nearly 50 more targets than any other player on the roster and defenses have shifted secondaries his way without suffering repercussions.

But Green isn’t the one to make excuses and he’s taking ownership of his bad season. It’s what a leader would do and if there’s something typical about Green this year, it’s his candid, self-critical responses to the adversity.