Not-so-good update on Clint Boling

The Bengals have already lost one projected starting lineman before training camp even starts. Are they in danger of losing another?

While the Jonah Williams injury got much of the attention in OTAs, it’s easy to forget that Clint Boling was held out with his own undisclosed injury. Now a month after minicamps ended, we still don’t know the full extent of Boling’s injury, and the Bengals may not either, according to Paul Dehner of The Athletic.

I’ve been told the club is still trying to get a handle on Boling’s injury. Considering he has been sidelined with an undisclosed issue throughout the offseason program, none of that sounds very good.

Then there was this nugget from Cincy Jungle alum Joe Goodberry, who tweeted this out not long after OTAs ended:

This is eerily similar to what happened with Williams, who was taking part in OTAs before suddenly getting held out for an undisclosed issue that the Bengals didn’t reveal the full extent of until a few weeks after OTAs ended.

Boling is 30 years old and entering the final year of his contract, so it’s possible he’s thinking about an early retirement, though that’s pure speculation right now.

The last thing the Bengals need is to lose another starting lineman from an offensive line that’s already projected as one of the 5-10 worst in the NFL next season. Boling is arguably the team’s best remaining lineman, so losing him and Williams would be crushing before camp even begins.

Combined with the downgrade of going from Frank Pollack to Jim Turner as the team’s offensive line coach, this has been just about the worst offseason for an offensive line that an NFL team can have.