Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth is one of the best tackles in the game. Despite the Bengals struggles during their four-win 2010 season, it was Whitworth anchoring the left side of the line. Much like the overall state of the offensive line in 2011, it was a struggle, even for the steady Whitworth in run blocking. And there might have been a reason for it.
During his wonderful article regarding Andy Dalton's relationship with his starting left tackle, Geoff Hobson added a little nugget, pointing out that Andrew Whitworth was dealing with a case of "tendinitis" that "cropped up during the second month of the season and by the end of the year he thinks it affected his run blocking."
"Basically my quad shut down. There was a lot of muscle loss in the muscle of my left leg and I've built it back up. I'm back to working out, doing what I normally do," he says. "Yoga. Stretching. I never had to stop. It's about tolerating the pain.
"You're still able to play and perform. You don’t get as much push as you normally would in the running game. The real issue is once you get out over your knee, its pretty week. That's pretty hard not to be able to do in the run game."