Even though he’s now apparently in direct competition with him, Cincinnati Bengals right tackle La’el Collins has nothing but praise for Jonah Williams.
Collins, still rehabbing his season-ending injury suffered last December, was in the Bengals locker room on Monday and was asked about the Williams situation.
“Jonah’s going to be fine. He’s a hell of an NFL player. He’s a first-round pick. He’s done it,” Collins said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Jonah with the type of person he is. It’s like every one of these guys in here. To me, man, all it is is we’re going to be better and we’re going to have depth and we’re going to be deep and we’re coming and we’re not stopping.”
Williams reportedly asked the Bengals to trade him after the team signed Orlando Brown Jr. to play left tackle, news that meant the team would move Williams to right tackle.
On paper, Williams is a stellar stop-gap solution and competition for Collins, but it’s understandable if the former first-round pick wants to keep playing left tackle, especially in the final year of his rookie contract.
No matter what happens with Williams, it’s a nice quote from Collins, who has faced his fair share of adversity over the course of his career as a pro lineman, too.
