Bengals OL La'el Collins shares jaw-dropping recovery update
The comeback for Cincinnati Bengals right tackle La'el Collins appears to be well on its way. It's been exactly five months since Collins tore multiple ligaments in his right knee during the Bengals' Week 16 game vs. the New England Patriots last season. The recovery time for an injury that severe takes nearly a full […]
The comeback for Cincinnati Bengals right tackle La'el Collins appears to be well on its way.
It's been exactly five months since Collins tore multiple ligaments in his right knee during the Bengals' Week 16 game vs. the New England Patriots last season. The recovery time for an injury that severe takes nearly a full year most of the time, especially for big offensive lineman like Collins.
The progress Collins is making seems to be well ahead of that timetable.
While Collins is not yet participating in OTAs, he's doing very impressive work off to the side. He posted a snippet to his instagram showing how far along he is after just a few months of recovery time.
It may not seem like much, but that short area burst and lateral movement, all putting stress on his repaired knee, is so damn impressive considering how recent the injury and surgery were. It's entirely possible that Collins wasn't even this spry for the entire 2022 season.
Before his first training camp with the Bengals began last year, Collins was working through a back injury that sidelined him for about a month. The ailment ultimately limited his ability throughout the season and his overall practice time between games. The Bengals did the best they could to manage it, but the plan fell through on Christmas Eve when Collins was lost for the rest of the season.
The timing of the former Dallas Cowboy's injury created major doubt as to whether or not he would be able to play for most of the upcoming season. That's still up in the air until August and September come around, but if this where Collins is now, the prognosis for the fall seems to be pretty good.
Collins coming back in time for training camp and preseason action will make the battle at right tackle extremely interesting. Jonah Williams, Jackson Carman, and even Cody Ford will get reps for the job, assuming Collins gets brought back gradually.
"Right on schedule. Everything clicking the right way. No setbacks. No pain. I think I'm in a good place," Collins said last month. This was before we saw visual evidence of progress. It's safe to say he wasn't sugarcoating anything now.
