A cart transported Trent Brown off the sphere through the Bengals’ loss to the Commanders on Monday evening, and the veteran deal with is not going to return this season.
Brown suffered a patellar tendon tear, in line with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who reviews season-ending surgical procedure is on faucet. Whereas Brown is predicted to get better absolutely, he’s on a one-year contract and has an intensive historical past of unavailability. This improvement will start the Amarius Mims period in Cincinnati.
The Bengals gave Brown a one-year, $4.75M deal in March. After the group chosen Mims in Spherical 1, Brown was transferring towards a job as high-end insurance coverage behind Cincinnati’s starters — as a part of the most important deal with trio in NFL historical past. The 6-foot-8 blocker, nevertheless, grew to become wanted after Mims suffered a pectoral harm throughout coaching camp. Brown began the Bengals’ first three video games, shifting again to proper deal with after ending his second Patriots stint on the left aspect.
Luckily for an 0-3 Bengals group, Mims recovered in time to make his NFL debut Monday evening. He changed Brown at proper deal with and performed 39 offensive snaps within the group’s shootout loss. Mims had been on monitor to open the season as Cincy’s RT starter, however his chest harm reopened the door for Brown. Now, it will likely be Mims and Orlando Brown Jr. — a deal with tandem that figures to be in place for years in western Ohio.
Now 31, Trent Brown has encountered many well being points throughout an in any other case profitable profession. Since transferring into the 49ers’ beginning lineup late in his rookie season, Brown has missed 36 video games. This has not included accidents in each season, as Brown delivered 16-game slates in 2016 and ’18 after which a 17-game exhibiting in 2022. However they’ve cropped up constantly for a participant who has additionally handled weight points throughout his professional profession.
The Patriots obtained great worth from their Brown pick-swap commerce with the 49ers through the 2018 draft, quickly turning to the previous seventh-round decide as their LT starter. Brown performed a key position within the Pats gliding to their sixth Tremendous Bowl title that season, and he parlayed that right into a then-tackle-record four-year, $66M Raiders deal. After a Professional Bowl exhibiting at proper deal with for the 2019 Raiders, Brown was hospitalized because of COVID-19 — throughout a 2020 season that includes 11 missed video games — after which traded again to New England in 2021. The Pats used Brown at each proper and left deal with from 2021-23, and whereas he performed properly, he grew to become troublesome to depend on in Invoice Belichick‘s ultimate years in Foxborough.
Some among the many Patriots believed Brown prioritized his free company slightly than coming back from harm as quickly as he might final season, a 4-13 Pats marketing campaign. A tepid market awaited him after Brown missed six video games in 2023 and 9 in 2021. Nonetheless, the Bengals took a flier and minimize three-year swingman/spot starter Jackson Carman in August. This got here after backup D’Ante Smith landed on IR. The group nonetheless has guard/deal with Cody Ford, whereas 2022 UDFA Devin Cochran resides on its follow squad. Cochran has but to play a regular-season NFL recreation.
Contemplating Mims’ latest harm and a health-interrupted Georgia profession that featured simply eight begins, it will make sense if the Bengals thought-about outdoors choices to again up their present first-string duo. This represents a brutal blow for Brown, who will rehab on an expiring contract.