Orlando Brown Jr.'s Injury is Murky, Meaning Bengals Vet Cody Ford Could Make First Career Start at LT

Jay Morrison | 6 Hours Ago

Cincinnati Bengals guard Cody Ford (61) during a timeout against the Indianapolis Colts Thursday, August 22, 2024 at Paycor Stadium. / Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI – While Cincinnati Bengals left tackle is believed to have avoided a serious enough knee/calf injury to force him on to Injured Reserve, his status for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles is murky.

Taylor called Brown’s availability questionable and said it will be monitored throughout the week.

That could set the stage for Cody Ford, who took over for Brown midway through the second quarter, to make his first true start at tackle since 2019 and his first ever at left tackle.

“I thought he did what we needed him to do,” Taylor said of Ford’s performance Sunday in the 21-14 victory against the Cleveland Browns and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

“It's one of the toughest matchups you can have in all of football, and he gave us what we needed to win,” Taylor added. “He's got a composure about himself. He's a veteran. He's played a lot of games in this league, so it's not too big for him. He goes in there and does his job and it's good to know we can count on him.”

Technically, Ford has made two starts at tackle since joining the Bengals in 2023, but both of them – Week 4 at Carolina this year and Week 12 last year against Pittsburgh – were the product of him reporting eligible as a sixth offensive lineman.

The last time Ford was in the lineup as a regular member of the offensive line was in 2022 when he started three games at right guard for Arizona.

“His versatility goes back to the draft,” Taylor said of Ford, who was a second-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2019.  

“When he was coming out of (Oklahoma), the way we looked at him, it was kind of guard/tackle conversation,” Taylor continued. “To see his career transpire in Buffalo and Arizona, he’s done both of that.”

After starting 15 games at right tackle for the Bills in 2019, Ford made the switch to guard, starting the first two games at right before switching to left for another five starts. He started just three games for the Cardinals in 2022 before signing a one-year free agent deal with the Bengals in 2023.

“He’s come here and done it all,” Taylor said. “Just whatever position you put him at, he approaches it the right way and gives you belief that he can do the job. That’s a good quality to have in a backup lineman. You’ve gotta be versatile and he’s done that for us.”

That versatility is what the Bengals are leaning into by planning to start Ford at left tackle if Brown can’t play rather than moving rookie first-round pick Amarius Mims to left tackle and inserting Ford into his more comfortable spot on the ride side of the line.

“I think Amarius is doing a really good job at right tackle,” Taylor said. “He's comfortable there. Of course, we always talk through what are the best options for our offensive line any time we have something we’ve gotta adjust. But I'm pleased with how he's done over there.”

Figuring out the starting tackles is one thing.

But the backups?

Well, yikes.

The tackle position has been decimated by injuries with D’Ante Smith (knee) going down in training camp, opening day starter at right tackle Trent Brown (knee) in Week 3 and backup Jaxson Kirkland (biceps) in Week 4.

All three are out for the year.

That's why the Bengals had to use rookie center Matt Lee as the extra tackle on a handful of snaps Sunday after Brown left.

Could the situation be bad enough for the Bengals to poach 2021 second-round pick Jackson Carman, whom they cut after three unproductive seasons, off the Miami Dolphins practice squad?

Don't count on it.

But the only other option on the active roster is Andrew Stueber, a first-year guard/tackle from Michigan whom the Bengals signed off the Atlanta practice squad two weeks ago. Stueber has been a healthy scratch in his first two games with the Bengals.

A seventh-round pick of the Patriots in 2022, Stueber has appeared in six preseason games and allowed 17 pressures and three sacks on 74 pass-blocking snaps.

The only other tackle in the building is Devin Cochran, who is on the practice squad.

Adding depth will be up to director of player personnel Duke Tobin and the front office.

Getting Ford ready to face a Philadelphia Eagles defense that recorded eight sacks Sunday – tied for the single-game high in the league this season – will be on offensive line coach Frank Pollack and Dan Pitcher.

“I thought (Ford) performed admirably, given the circumstances, given the matchup that he walks into that game, having to go execute against some really good edge players,” Pitcher said. “We did some things throughout the game – not just because Cody was in the game – but we did some things to try to alleviate the threat of those guys on the edge.

“Looking back, that was one of the things that I was pleased (with),” Pitcher added. “I think we were able to do that, No. 1, because our players executed. And No. 2, because we set out to do that. And so I was pleased with Cody.”

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