The Bengals have placed starting right guard Xavier Su’a-Filo on IR, the team announced. The 29-year-old suffered an ankle injury during Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.
As you probably know by now, Su’a-Filo will only be required to miss three weeks before becoming eligible to return to action under this year’s modified IR rules. He was replaced by Billy Price following his injury, and Price will remain at RG until Su’a-Filo is ready to return.
Cincinnati signed the UCLA product to a three-year, $10MM contract this offseason. He was drafted by the Texans in the second round of the 2014 draft and finished out his four-year rookie contract in Houston before hooking on with the Cowboys for two seasons. He has started 54 of the 76 games in which he has appeared, and though he is not one of the league’s better guards, clubs value O-lineman with significant starting experience.
On most teams, this would not be an enormous loss, but the fact that Billy Price will be starting is significant, given how disappointing his career has been to this point. The need for Xua-Filo to be signed is because of Price’s poor play, and Jordan’s similarly uneven play as an alternative. It will be interesting to see how the Bengals approach the interior of that line in the offseason, or the position coach’s role if nothing pans out.