Paul Dehner Jr.

pdehnerjr@enquirer.com

As Andy Dalton walked to the line of scrimmage for his first 11-on-11 play of the 2016 season, he spied to his right and no longer around were Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, their 286 passes gone to green pastures.

Attached to the line was not Tyler Eifert, the touchdown safety net who set a Bengals tight end record for scores last year with 13. Instead, he would soon be under the knife for ankle surgery and out for about three months.

The bellows of Hue Jackson no longer bounced off the walls of the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, replaced by the softer voice of first-year coordinator Ken Zampese.

An army of unproven receivers would look on behind the quarterback, eventually working into rotations to begin building chemistry as the day unfolded.

But in those early moments of the first OTA practice, one glance at No. 18 still standing on the outside served as the calm amid a storm of change in the passing game.

It didn’t take long for No. 14 to throw a deep ball down the sideline and No. 18 to effortlessly haul it in to serve as a reminder of the offense’s solid foundation.

“Andy and I have been here long enough, this offense go as we go,” said Green, opening his sixth NFL season alongside Dalton. “We don’t need no coaches or anybody to push us. We know what we have to do to get this offense to go. We know the offense run through us.”

Watching Dalton sling the ball around made it easy to forget he was last seen on the sidelines in a cast when Pittsburgh ended the Bengals’ season. The first missed starts of his career are no longer an issue. He’s back to the center of stability.

Certainly as adjustments with new pieces like Brandon LaFell, Tyler Boyd and the return of Eifert take place through the offseason, training camp and preseason the connection between the team’s two highest paid players must carry the team through the growing pains.

Since 2011, Green ranks in the top five of active NFL wideouts in receptions (415), receiving yards (6,171) and touchdowns (45). Of those 45 touchdowns, 39 came from Dalton. Meanwhile, eight of the other 11 receivers on the roster have never caught a pass in the NFL.

The youth serves as a flashback for Green to when he first arrived as a rookie, only now he realizes onus falls on him to help lift the group.

“Just going to go out there and do the things I’ve been doing these last six years, hope guys come a long for the ride,” Green said. “My job is to get them ready to play.

“As one of the leaders, I lead by example but also I have to be a little more vocal. Tell them about different routes and how corners are going to play them and how you need to be more physical. Little things like that so they can help us.”

Adam Jones watched Green connect over top of him Tuesday, reprising a competitive battle on the outside running regularly the past four years in practices. Few know better how Green and Dalton can be the hammer without an answer and need to be right now for this group.

“Those guys have been together for five-six years,” Jones said. “The chemistry between those two are almost like a bolt-nut. It should go in every time.”

Despite the nuts and bolts the team has often been screwed without a consistent secondary weapon. For now, that means using these OTAs to find a connection with the new receivers and offering tips to help bring along the rookies.

Watching Green execute as opposed to being taught in the meeting rooms stuck out on the first day for Boyd.

“That’s great aspect of the young guys coming in, we get to see a vet, one of the greatest in this league to do it being able to get that opportunity to watch him do it daily can help us, sharpen us up how he get open, so crisp in his routes and wins leverage,” the second-round pick said. “It’s so great for us to see that instead of somebody telling us.”

How the rest of the passing game comes together is one of the biggest questions leading up to the start of the regular season. Green and Dalton will play a role in bringing those pieces together. Sometimes it seems there’s no reason for the two of them to practice what the do best other than to show everyone else on the team what greatness looks like – whether in the first practice of the 16th game.

“We’ve been together a long time,” Green said. “It showed today.”