Bengals' plan at right tackle takes another sharp turn as first-round pick Amarius Mims takes over for good
Right tackle Amarius Mims played his first game for the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, and his first start is already locked in for next week. Mims came in for starter Trent Brown against the Washington Commanders after Brown was carted off the field with an injury. Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Brown suffered a […]
Right tackle Amarius Mims played his first game for the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, and his first start is already locked in for next week.
Mims came in for starter Trent Brown against the Washington Commanders after Brown was carted off the field with an injury. Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Brown suffered a torn patellar tendon and will miss the rest of the season.
While this was not exactly what the Bengals envisioned for the right tackle spot as a whole, the Bengals invested their first-round pick from this year's NFL Draft to ensure the position would have a capable starter.
They now need Mims to be that guy for the next 14 games.
Amarius Mims' time has quickly arrived
It wasn't a given that Brown would start over Mims to begin the season like he did. They were aware of the risks that Brown brought to the table. The 31-year old has only played one full season since 2019 and has dealt with injuries for his entire career. Relying on his lack of durability for 17 games was not an option, which is why Mims entered the equation in April.
The Bengals made Mims the 18th overall pick in the first round with both a short and long-term vision. He was drafted to be the right tackle of the future, but his career didn't have to start on the field immediately with Brown signed for a year. Developing behind a Super Bowl champion until the inevitable injury arrived was a good plan on paper if that's how it would go down.
Those plans looked to be changed when Mims practiced with the first team during the early days of training camp with Brown sidelined due to a back injury. In fact, Mims repped with the starters for almost the entire offseason while Brown was sidelined or not present at all.
Mims had legitimate momentum to start Week 1 entering the first week of the preseason, and no one blinked an eye based on how he was practicing. If this was how the plan turned out, so be it.
Then a pectoral injury set Mims back about a month, and Brown came back into the picture. The plan reverted back to its conventional state. Mims would need time to recover, and then can develop behind the veteran for a while after.
Nope. As soon as Mims was healthy enough to play, he was needed. Who could've guessed his first game back came at the perfect time?
Now that Brown is out for the year, Mims has to quickly regain all that preseason momentum as the starter for the remainder of the season. He ended up playing nearly 40 snaps to close out the game, allowing two pressures and a sack on Joe Burrow. The offense managed to keep the team in the game until the very end with him out there, but there were mistakes that need to be corrected.
Coming in off the bench is never easy, especially for a rookie offensive lineman making his regular season debut. Mims will get the benefit of preparing for his first start next week, and the clock will officially start for his career.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow has never had a better game wasted in his NFL career than the loss he just took
The Bengals failed to capitalize on a great game from Burrow.
