Zac Taylor on cutting La’El Collins: It sucks, there’s never a good time to do that

He Bengals released Veteran offensive tackle La’El Collins came off the physically unable to perform list yesterday, ending his tenure in Cincinnati after just one year. Bengals coach Zac Taylor says he wasn’t happy with it, but it was the right decision for the team.

“There’s never a good time to do it and it sucks when you have to say that to a guy,” Taylor said of informing Collins that he had been released.

Collins signed with the Bengals last year and played well until he suffered a torn ACL in December. This offseason, the Bengals signed Orlando Brown to play left tackle and moved Jonah Williams to right tackle, and Collins became the odd man out.

“He’s tough. There’s never a good time. He worked really hard for us,” Taylor said. “I have a lot of respect for LC and the way he went about his business. He gave us some really good plays last year until the injury. I enjoyed being near LC.”

Taylor said the Bengals rely on backups D’Ante Smith and Jackson Carman if Brown or Williams miss time.

“D’Ante had a good camp for us,” Taylor said. “As we continue to develop guys like D’Ante and Jackson, who can give us good tackles if we need them, we feel good about our depth there.”

Collins is now a free agent and hopes to recover and sign with another team soon.