|High School Harry| Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 The Cincinnati Bengals may have lost both starting offensive tackles for season Jim Owczarski, jowczarski@enquirer.comPublished 5:28 p.m. ET Dec. 18, 2017 Even in the controlled atmosphere of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota, the black cloud that has hung over the Cincinnati Bengals offense opened up and dumped more cold water on it when starting tackles Cedric Ogbuehi and Andre Smith were injured. Now, the final two games look to be in jeopardy for both. Ogbuehi, who has been on the injury report several times this season with a shoulder problem, looked to have aggravated it on a failed fourth down attempt with 1 minute, 35 seconds left in the first quarter. He stayed in the game for the start of the next Bengals possession, which resulted in a sack of Andy Dalton. At that point, Ogbuehi walked off the field and didn’t return. The extent of his injury is still be determined. Drafted in the first round in 2015 while he was rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the 25-year-old has also dealt with a toe injury and a sports hernia. Ogbuehi has played in 14 games each of the last two seasons and last year ended a game early with a rotator cuff injury. Next year will the fourth and final year of Ogbuehi's rookie contract. Smith was injured on the very last play the Bengals ran with 2:06 to go – a deep ball from backup quarterback AJ McCarron to Josh Malone that fell incomplete on fourth-and-five. Smith's left leg was rolled up on from the side by right guard Alex Redmond while setting his block. It is likely Smith will miss the final two games, though the injury is not expected to affect his ability to participate in any kind of offseason team activities. Smith signed a one-year deal before the start of the season to compete at the right guard position, but he eventually became a swing tackle until Jake Fisher was put the reserve/non-football injury list in early November. With both tackles now injured, the Bengals are woefully thin on the offensive line with just six healthy players. Backup center T.J. Johnson was put on injured reserve on Saturday after injuring a pectoral muscle and the only true backup tackle on the active roster is veteran Eric Winston. If Ogbuehi and/or Smith are unable to play Sunday against Detroit, look for starting guards Trey Hopkins and Clint Boling to kick out to the open tackle spots. Backup guards Christian Westerman and Alex Redmond would then fill in alongside center Russell Bodine. Winston would then be the primary backup tackle in case of another in-game injury. The only offensive lineman left on the practice is undrafted free agent Kent Perkins, who is a tackle. The team only has eight players on the practice squad after Denver signed away rookie center J. J. Dielman over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelWeston Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 Start pulling guys off other teams practice squads. 2 weeks too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HavePityPlease Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 The good news is they can finally see what they have with the guards who never see the field. I'm not holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Numbers| Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 Westerman played OT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted December 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, Numbers said: Westerman played OT. Can he play guard, if need be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyInDC Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 finally, we might win one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Tigre Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 2 hours ago, Numbers said: Westerman played OT. He never played it at ASU from what I can find: Played every game at LG both junior and senior seasons. Saw nothing in his Redshirt Sophomore season either. He was a high school all-american at tackle though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Numbers| Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 3 hours ago, High School Harry said: Can he play guard, if need be? That is a definite yes. 1 hour ago, Le Tigre said: He never played it at ASU from what I can find: Played every game at LG both junior and senior seasons. Saw nothing in his Redshirt Sophomore season either. He was a high school all-american at tackle though. Practice he was being put in at OT from my understanding and never a game. I don't equal practice or high school to regular season game play in the NFL but if it is necessary I'm sure the other options couldn't be much better. Alexander somewhere was quoted that Westerman was a versatile pick. Once again I don't know if that means he can play OT to a high level right out of the gate. We are talking about, IMHO, one of the toughest, mentally and physically, on the entire team (outside most QBs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|schotzee| Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 4 hours ago, CincyInDC said: finally, we might win one. Exactly what I was thinking. This game is ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 6 hours ago, CincyInDC said: finally, we might win one. 2 hours ago, schotzee said: Exactly what I was thinking. This game is ours. yay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Mrs McCarron asked that AJ be excused from the next game,..he has a prior engagement,..survival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Like Jason has joked or half joked, couldn't they just pull two fat guys out of the stands and suit them up? Might not see that much difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Bunghole| Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 11 hours ago, Hooky said: Like Jason has joked or half joked, couldn't they just pull two fat guys out of the stands and suit them up? Might not see that much difference. Plus they'd be full of beer and anger. Might actually be an improvement. Plus the crowd would finally have something interesting to watch and cheer for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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