The Cincinnati Bengals are preparing to start their fourth-string left tackle on Sunday—yes, you read that right—and their second-string left tackle reportedly wants out as he returns from a concussion that he suffered all the way back in the preseason. Meanwhile, the team is winless on the season, the first under new head coach Zac Taylor. Fun times. Let’s retrace our steps a little bit.
The Bengals’ intended left tackle was Jonah Williams, their rookie first-round pick, but he suffered a season-ending injury before even putting pads on, so that shut the door on that pretty quickly. They turned to the man who started there last year, Cordy Glenn, a former high draft pick whom they traded for in 2018.
As alluded to above, he suffered a concussion during the preseason. Wednesday—that is, two days ago—was the first time that he returned to the practice field and worked after finally being cleared from the concussion protocol. But not without incident.
While Taylor confirmed that there is “an internal discipline matter” going on, Pro Football Talk writes that Glenn had a heated argument with one of his coaches that ultimately resulted in him telling Taylor that he should cut him. The argument reached such intensity that some observers thought it might turn physical.
According to the report, Glenn was fined $200,000 for conduct detrimental to the team. His gripe is evidently that he believes that the team has rushed him back from the concussion, and if that is really the case, then that is a serious problem.
After practicing on Wednesday, he was not out on the field yesterday. It remains to be seen whether or not the matter is settled and he will be on the field today. If not, then one has to wonder if indeed a parting of company may be the only solution.
In Glenn’s absence, Andre Smith has been starting at left tackle, and playing rather poorly. A former first-round pick who is by now long in the tooth, he spent his career prior to this at right tackle, and even kicked into right guard to keep a job.
With him sidelined, the Bengals are currently preparing with John Jerry at left tackle, and—get this—Fred Johnson is going to be the backup. The same Fred Johnson, the rookie undrafted free agent who hasn’t dressed for a game, that they claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
