Michael

Jordan

The Patriots’ front-seven is down three starters at this point. It’s an unideal situation facing the 49ers’ vaunted rushing attack. The 49ers’ pass rush should also effectively generate pressure against the Patriots’ problematic offensive line.

It looks like Sow will miss another week of action because of his hip injury. Mike Reiss of ESPN reports that Michael Jordan will likely be elevated from the practice squad again for Week 2 against the Seahawks, and likely start at left guard in Sow’s absence.

Jordan has started 29 games in three seasons, splitting time between the Bengals and Panthers. The Panthers re-signed him to provide additional depth this offseason but have ultimately decided to leave him off the 53-man roster. At 25 years old, it’s possible Jordan will find another place to play in the coming weeks. If not, there’s always baseball, basketball, or owning an NBA franchise.

Jordan’s rookie contract expired this offseason, but he didn’t latch on anywhere else. He started 29 games in his first three years between Cincinnati and Carolina, but did not start at all last year, and played just 54 offensive snaps. Jordan will just be depth for Carolina as they try to get past Austin Corbett’s injury. But this will keep an NFL Dad joke staple around for a little while longer.

Carolina will also be without starting RG John Miller (ankle). With both of their starters sidelined, the Panthers will turn to Dennis Daley and Brady Christensen against the Falcons. It is not a great development as Carolina looks to #Establish under their new offensive coordinator.

Jordan, of course, took that personally. The No. 136 overall pick of the 2019 draft, Jordan started 19 games over the past two years, but never appeared to be part of the solution to the Bengals’ offensive line woes. He does have youth (23) and that starting experience on his side as he hunts for a second chance. He will undoubtedly land practice squad work.

It means the Bengals will be missing an unfathomable four starting offensive linemen vs. Tennessee. Jordan’s (non-COVID) illness just popped up on Sunday morning. He is joining LT Jonah Williams, RT Bobby Hart and C Trey Hopkins on the shelf. The Bengals’ line is already terribad, so to say it’s a concern would be putting it mildly. Thankfully, the Titans have one of the league’s least effective pass rushes. Joining the OL on the shelf are WR John Ross and RB Joe Mixon. Via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner, the Bengals are rolling with: LT: Hakeem Adeniji, LB Shaq Calhoun, C Billy Price, RG Alex Redmond and RT Fred Johnson.

Things just keep getting worse for the Bengals’ injury-riddled offensive line. It’s particularly bad news this week against the Bills’ ferocious defense, which has allowed a league-low 180 passing yards per game dating back to Week 1 of last season. The Bengals rank 24th in adjusted sack rate and dead last in adjusted line yards per rush after two weeks (Football Outsiders).

Jordan’s absence is yet another problem for the Bengals’ injury-riddled offensive line to deal with. It’s bad timing ahead of their road trip to take on the Bills’ underrated defense that managed to largely shut down each of the Jets and Giants in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.

This is far from ideal, as Jordan is a fourth-round rookie. But the Bengals don’t have a lot of options due to various injuries. Hopkins has been a versatile interior lineman, grading out better in pass protection than as a run-blocker. Joe Mixon remains a top-10 RB option despite the problems on the offensive line because of his projected workload under Taylor.