Bengals Andrew Whitworth's knee "too swollen to play" the Dolphins

During one of the pregame updates on the NFL Network, reporter Alex Flanagan began running down each team's inactive list and highlighting Andrew Whitworth, who is taking the night off with a knee. According to Flanagan, Whitworth said that his "knee is too swollen" to play Thursday night but expects to be ready by next week when the Bengals head to Baltimore to play the Ravens.

Whitworth had missed all four preseason games and the regular season opener after rehabilitating a surgically repaired knee during the offseason.

Undergoing offseason knee surgery earlier this year, we had expected that Whitworth would sit out during summer practices. Status quo. The plan was applied. When training camp cam around, he practiced just as he said he would. Then he stopped practicing the first Sunday when the team dressed up for their first full contact session. Whitworth was hoping to strengthen his knee, to take it easy, not wanting to push things.

However, Whitworth suffered another injury during training camp, which required a second procedure.

"I had a little re-injury and we set the timeline all over, got that situation fixed and now we’re close to being back to ready," Whitworth said on Sept. 11. "It was a totally different episode that caused another injury because you’re already dealing (with) something that already has been worked on."

Cincinnati is confident enough with backup tackle Anthony Collins, who scored one of the best offensive linemen grades against the Chicago Bears, to start him over Whitworth if Cincinnati's Pro Bowl left tackle is unable to go. Collins has taken 131 offensive snaps this year with the fourth-best overall score among Bengals offensive linemen according to Pro Football Focus' grading scale.