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The Cincinnati Bengals were never going to fully avoid the injury bug in training camp.
And after the first day in pads, it’s already popped up at a key area — the offensive line.
New starting right tackle Riley Reiff missed Tuesday’s padded practice after suffering an injury during an interception return that occurred on Monday. It’s a minor thing, but he’s now missing key snaps with the first-team offense right as everyone dons pads.
Backup tackle Fred Johnson also has a quad injury that will keep him out at least a week.
This might not sound like the biggest ordeal and indeed, these are minor issues. But missing two tackles meant fourth-round rookie D’Ante Smith got thrown to the wolves in practice. Viewed as a project with major upside in a few years, Smith got brutalized by first-team defenders and it didn’t help an offense already struggling against a game defense.
With any luck, Johnson and Reiff will be back soon to help stabilize things and this isn’t a sign of things to come. But it speaks to a depth issue when a rookie is the next guy up, so it’s something that might encourage the team to make another move on a free agent.
The Bengals hope Reiff is a big upgrade at right tackle and he’s never missed more than three games in a season, so they’re clearly hoping this goes away quick and is an anomaly.
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