Bengals News (7/16): Clint Boling reflects on his career

Unguarded Reflections For Boling
One day Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander and head coach Marvin Lewis told him they had drafted him in the fourth round. Then Sirius Radio Silence. Per NFL rules he couldn’t talk to them or anyone else on the team for the next three more months until the eve of training camp at Georgetown College.

Family No. 1 Concern As Boling Retires
After meeting with variety of specialists following the discovery of the clot in January, Boling felt like he made the tough, but only decision he could for his wife and two daughters ages 20 and five months.

Bengals G Clint Boling Retires
Bengals G Clint Boling today announced his retirement from the NFL. Boling spent his entire career with Cincinnati, after joining the team in 2011 as a fourth-round draft selection (101st overall) out of the University of Georgia. He went on to serve as the team’s No. 1 LG from 2012-18, and appeared in 114 career games (including playoffs) with 112 starts.

Bengals G Boling retiring for health reasons
A fourth-round draft pick in 2011, Boling started 109 games for the Bengals, including every game for the past two seasons. While Boling played mostly guard, he was asked to move to tackle at times during the past two years due to injuries or struggles along the rest of the offensive line.

Zac Taylor on Bengals OL: “We’ll be good"
When rookie Jonah Williams was lost for the season to a shoulder injury, the Bengals are moving incumbent Cordy Glenn back outside after planning to make him the left guard.

AFC North watch: Bengals lose another offensive lineman
That sound you hear might be the dripping of Myles Garrett and the rest of the Cleveland Browns defensive linemen’s drool puddling below them as they ponder facing the Cincinnati Bengals this year.

Mike Brown, Bengals issue statements on Clint Boling’s retirement
Boling had spent the offseason dealing with a blood clot and decided at the age of 30 to hang up the cleats heading into a contract year and instead focus on his family.

Blood clot forces Bengals’ Boling to retire
Boling, who started 112 games for the Bengals in an eight season career, tried medication in hopes to combat the blood clot in his right leg and lengthen his playing career, but decided the risk was too great to continue playing football.

Around the league

Larry Fitzgerald: Kingsbury has Cards going 'faster'
"It's not so much what he's installing that stands out; it's how its run, the tempo of it," Fitzgerald said via SI.com's Robert Klemko. "Every single day, with more experience, we were able to run it faster and faster and faster, get more plays in more efficiently. The faster guys understand the concepts the more pressure we can put on defenses."

Golden Tate: Matthew Stafford is 'best QB I've played with'
"Stafford's been the best quarterback I've played with," Tate told ClickOnDetroit.com. "The guy can flat out play, he's tough, and his attitude is amazing and he just wants to play ball. For me I have nothing but praises for him."

Free-agent RB Alex Collins suffers broken leg
"I refuse to be discouraged," Collins wrote in an Instagram post Monday evening. "Instead, I have faith and am optimistic about the process. I believe that all that has happened is making me physically and emotionally stronger, and is necessary for me to succeed in life."

Jadeveon Clowney doesn't get deal before deadline
The 26-year-old Clowney sat out the Texans' offseason workouts. He has yet to sign the franchise tender meaning he cannot be fined if he skips training camp practices, which begin July 24 for Houston veterans. Rapoport reported Monday that Clowney is therefore not expected to show up for most or all of training camp but will play on the the one-year tag come September.

Martavis Bryant formally applies for reinstatement
Bryant has been suspended three times in the past four years for violations of the league's substance abuse policy. The most recent came in December, when he was suspended indefinitely for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement from a previous ban.

Raiders sign free agent guard Jonathan Cooper
After injuries limited him to 24 appearances with 11 starts in his two seasons in Arizona, Cooper, along with a second round pick, was part of the trade that brought defensive end Chandler Jones to the Cardinals in 2016.