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Bengals suspend OL Cordy Glenn, escalating already-bad situation

The Cincinnati Bengals announced on Friday that they have suspended offensive lineman Cordy Glenn for one game, citing “internal disciplinary reasons.”

The team said it would have no further comment on the situation.

Bad situation escalated?

Based on reporting, this is a bad situation between Glenn and the Bengals.

A second-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2012, Glenn is in his second season with Cincinnati, having been traded there in March 2018.

He suffered a concussion in the team’s August 15 preseason game against Washington and was only recently given full clearance to return to practice, doing so on Wednesday.

Cincinnati Bengals tackle Cordy Glenn suffered a concussion in this August 15 game and has not played since; the Bengals suspended him for one game on Friday. (Getty Images)
Cincinnati Bengals tackle Cordy Glenn suffered a concussion in this August 15 game and has not played since; the Bengals suspended him for one game on Friday. (Getty Images)

ProFootballTalk reported on Thursday that the Bengals and Glenn have been “at odds regarding the concussion, its symptoms, whether [Glenn] is able to return, the need for second opinions, and how the player feels.”

Further, the Bengals had already fined Glenn $200,000 for conduct detrimental to the team before Friday’s suspension.

A source told ProFootballTalk that things got heated on Wednesday, with Glenn and a member of the coaching staff arguing, and Glenn eventually telling rookie head coach Zac Taylor to cut him. Glenn believes the team was trying to rush him back from his brain injury.

Glenn’s base salary for 2019 is $7.25 million, so the $200,000 fine was a little less than half of one regular-season game check.

Questioning a concussion?

Given the NFL’s history in the mishandling and misinformation surrounding concussions, it seems almost unbelievable that the Bengals would be questioning Glenn and whether he’s still dealing with symptoms.

Two other Bengals players have entered concussion protocol since Glenn did: receiver Alex Erickson and defensive end Kerry Wynn. Erickson was back at practice three days after suffering his concussion, while Wynn missed four games and then was placed on injured reserve.

While Erickson was lucky that his symptoms didn’t linger, that’s certainly not the case for each individual. Concussion symptoms vary, from nausea to dizziness to memory issues to headaches, and can last hours, days or weeks. Sometimes an individual can feel better only to have symptoms return with increased physical activity.

Cincinnati’s offensive line coach is Jim Turner, who had the same position with Miami years ago and was a participant in the bullying scandal involving Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin and others.

Turner learned little to nothing from being fired and the aftermath of that situation; while a position coach at Texas A&M, he was part of a “chalk talk” even for female fans of the team that included sexually-suggestive “instructions” for how to play offensive line.

He and another assistant coach were suspended for the ridiculous stunt.

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