Bengals notes: Will snow affect kicking game?

It’s not quite like going from Malibu to Anchorage, but the Cincinnati Bengals have been practicing in sunny, 60-degree weather all week outside and look to be heading onto a slick, perhaps snowy, field at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.

According to the National Weather Service, a measurable amount of snow is in the forecast for late Saturday night and in the hours before the 1 p.m. kickoff.

The game time window between 1-4 p.m. is clear of snow and rain, but considering that both are predicted to bookend the contest, the Bengals have to prepare for poor conditions for the first time in 2015.

Bengals kicker Mike Nugent is in his 11th season and spent his first four kicking in New York with the Jets, and he says he and snapper Clark Harris won’t break routine. They'll head out to the field, which is made of turf, before the entire team warms up to check their cleat grip. But that's no different than any other week.

“It’s really not too big a difference,” Nugent said. “You just have to realize the ball is not going to compress off your foot as good at 40 compared to 70 (degrees). You just have to realize the same exact hit on a kickoff might go a little bit shorter. I still have to put the ball in the air and make it go straight. You just kind of get used to it and work with it.”

Punter Kevin Huber shrugged off the potential conditions as well, noting that the special “K” balls the NFL uses for kickers means that they stay covered in a bag until they’re placed on the ground and snapped.

“You just stick to what you know – the weather is not going to do much,” Huber said. “If it’s a little bit colder, it’s a little bit colder, put an extra layer on. But really, it’s not going to change anything as far as my preparation or how I’m going to kick the ball.”

Injury update

The Bengals remain one of the healthiest teams in the NFL, as the entire 53-man active roster participated in practice on Thursday. Veterans Adam Jones (groin), Andrew Whitworth (non-injury related), Brandon Tate (illness) and Leon Hall (back) all were in uniform after not participating on Wednesday. Only Hall was limited on Thursday, while Jones, Tate, Kevin Zeitler (elbow), Andre Smith (elbow) and Dre Kirkpatrick (hip) were all full-go.

Wide receiver Marvin Jones popped up on the injury report Wednesday with foot soreness but also returned to full action.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m good,” said Jones, who missed all of last season with a foot injury. “I was a full practice. That was a game right there (against Seattle). That was an intense game. That’s pretty much it.”

Rex Ryan: A.J. Green is AFC’s finest

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh called the Bengals the league’s most talented team a few weeks ago, and Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan has joined that chorus – including dubbing A.J. Green the “finest receiver in the AFC.”

Green has 31 catches through five games – nearly half his total from last season. To this point, Green is averaging career highs in catches per game (6.2) and yards per game (99).

“He’s big, he’s physical, he’s fast,” Ryan said. “He can catch any route. He’ll go over the middle. He’ll go deep. You know he’s going deep and he still catches it. A lot of people roll their coverage to him and it doesn’t matter – they still throw it to him. Obviously he’s a rare talent.”