Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Cordy Glenn returned this week from serving a one-game suspension the organization handed down to him for conduct detrimental to the team. He reportedly had a vocal and aggressive confrontation with a member of the coaching staff earlier, and had even yelled at head coach Zac Taylor to release him.
Glenn, a long-time veteran who was acquired last season under Marvin Lewis for a third-round pick to be their starting left tackle, suffered a concussion in the preseason. He was cleared by the team’s medical trainers a couple of weeks ago, but apparently he did not believe that he was ready to resume practice, and that was the alleged source of his disagreement, and let to the argument.
Without knowing what really happened, it’s hard to get a clear picture of the situation. If the team was really rushing him back from a concussion sooner than he was prepared to, then that is very concerning. Yet comments made yesterday by quarterback Andy Dalton suggest perhaps something more.
“We want everybody that’s out there to be ready to go and to give full effort and to be all-in on everything we’re doing”, he said in reference to Glenn. “If he’s up to that and doing exactly what Zac wants and doing what this team is built on, we’ll accept him back. We want everyone to buy into what we’re doing. I’m not saying he is, and I’m not saying he isn’t. You want everyone to be on the same page”.
Ordinarily, you make assume that a player, let alone a leader in the locker room, would come to a teammate’s defense, but when it’s an internal matter and the discipline is handed down by the team itself, it could be murkier to discern where he really stands. Dalton’s future beyond 2019 is also in doubt. He could even be benched for this 0-7 team.
Did Glenn really do something that is globally viewed by the locker room as impermissible behavior? Do they feel perhaps that he was unnecessarily hesitant to return to the field even though he was physically capable of doing so? Did they feel he was quitting on the team?
Or is Dalton protecting himself? Taylor was even asked how he intends to enforce his cultural changes that he is trying to install by welcoming Glenn back. “With all out players we want to operate in the culture we’re setting forth” he said, and it’s decided on a case-to-case basis.
