On Monday, the Broncos received hope in terms of playing their next opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, when quarterback Andy Dalton was placed on Injured Reserve.

Dalton, in his eighth year as the Bengals starting QB, injured his thumb on Sunday and was placed on IR, ending his season. That means they’ll be facing Jeff Driskel, and will need to put pressure on the backup all game long.

However, superstar wide receiver A.J. Green told reporters at Bengals practice Wednesday morning “I’m back” after missing the last three games.

Green’s missed the last three Bengals games with a varying injuries, which is officially listed as a toe. His 45 catches for 687 yards are second-best for Cincinnati this year, with Tyler Boyd (63, 841) leading the way. Both Boyd, a third-year man who’s enjoying a breakout season, and Green are tied for the team lead with six touchdowns each.

While he’s not quite on pace this year, partly due to the injuries, Green’s gone over the 1,000-yard receiving mark in six of his seven professional seasons, with 63 total scores during his tenure in the league.

At 6’4″ and 210 pounds, he possesses the size and strength to box out smaller receivers, both while running routes as well as going up for jump balls thrown high. The last time the two teams met, in 2017, the star wideout caught four passes for 50 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown from Dalton.

But, with his usual quarterback out, how will Green perform this week? That remains to be seen, as does how the Broncos will match up with him. Likely, Chris Harris Jr. will be tasked with covering Green most of the time, but depending on offensive and defensive sets, we may see him matched up against Bradley Roby or even Isaac Yiadom.

The Broncos (5-6) face the Bengals (5-6) with both teams’ playoff hopes on the line, this Sunday at 11 a.m. MT in Cincinnati.