After he left Sunday’s game with a knee injury, the Bengals thought that left guard Clint Boling was done for the season with a torn ACL.
Tests have been done and doctors have been consulted, but the news isn’t any better for Boling. The Bengals announced Tuesday that he’s been placed on injured reserve, ending his season after 12 games.
The Bengals haven’t said how they’ll replace him. They moved Andrew Whitworth from left tackle to left guard on Sunday, forcing Anthony Collins from right tackle to the other side and Andre Smith into the game at right tackle. With Kevin Zeitler expected back at right guard this weekend, though, the team could opt for a simpler solution and plug Mike Pollak into Boling’s spot.
“I think we have the positions covered, it’s just a matter of how it’ll best suit us,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Pollak played very well at right guard yesterday. I would hate to just move Zeitler back to right guard and then Whit to left guard and have Pollak be the sixth guy because I think Pollak deserves to play, he’s played very well. Whit played well, AC deserves to play. So we’ve got six guys that are proven guys that can play and then [Tanner] Hawkinson hasn’t played yet, but we feel good about where he is. The good thing is we have options.”
The Bengals also announced that they have re-signed offensive lineman Dennis Roland to fill Boling’s roster spot. Roland was with the team from 2008 through the end of preseason this year and then was quickly brought back for the first three weeks of this season before getting released again.