UPDATE 2
Following the Bengals’ scorigami win over the Patriots, right tackle La’el Collins revealed his injury was a dislocated kneecap that was eventually popped back into place.
Collins believes if he misses time, it will just be the Week 17 matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.
Ironically, fellow Bengals tackle Jonah Williams suffered the same injury in Week 5 vs. the Baltimore Ravens and actually returned to play in the same game.
Just spoke with #Bengals RT La’el Collins who told me he dislocated his knee cap but it popped back into place. Says he’s moving well and believes if he is to miss next week’s game against the Bills (which he says is likely) it would be just that game. It is a not a season-ender
— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) December 24, 2022
There will be more testing done to determine if there’s any other damage, but it appears Collins’ season is not over.
In the meantime, expect Hakeem Adeniji to be the Bengals’ starting right tackle until Collins is healthy enough to play again.
UPDATE
For the time being, it looks like La’el Collins avoided an ACL tear, according to Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Kelsey Conway.
Significant injury news for the Bengals: La’el Collins’ ACL is still intact. Collins passed the initial ACL test done by the medical staff, a source tells me
He will undergo an MRI tomorrow to see what the injury diagnosis is, but initial test shows ACL is OK. #Bengals
— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) December 24, 2022
The Cincinnati Bengals will be without La’el Collins for the rest of their game against the New England Patriots. The first-year Bengal had his leg rolled up on by a defender and instantly trainers were called onto the field by players from both sides.
While he was initially able to walk off the field with the assistance from two trainers, he was later carted from the medical tent to the locker room.
Now, the Bengals have declared him OUT of the game with a left leg injury.
Collins will be replaced at right tackle with Hakeem Adeniji, who has played a handful of snaps each game as a sixth offensive lineman. He has also replaced Collins sparingly during the season.
This starting offensive line unit had the most snaps together of any unit in the NFL, but we will have to see if this disruption has a serious impact on that continuity they had going.
We will update this story if more details become available.