If Bengals fans were agitated to watch a pair of proven offensive linemen slip away in free agency, Cincinnati's starting quarterback isn't sweating it.
"There's no panic on my end,"Andy Dalton said Thursday, per the team's official website. "I feel like we've got a lot of talent. We just have to put it all together."
That won't be so easy after the Bengals sat by and watched Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworthink a deal with the Rams before stalwart right guard Kevin Zeitler signed a massive, long-term pact with the division-rival Browns.
"We're going to have to figure it out," Dalton said. "Those are big shoes to fill. Whit arguably has been the best tackle in the NFL for a while. Guys are going to have to step up and play because obviously that's a big piece of what we do."
The reality is that only six teams allowed more sacks than the Bengals last season -- even with Zeitler and Whitworth on the payroll.
The plan today is to station injury-plagued Cedric Ogbuehi, their 2015 first-rounder, at left tackle with Jake Fisher on the right side. The latter boasts just four pro starts, while Ogbuehi was unceremoniously benched last season after a rough string of games at right tackle.
"It's one of those things it's going to be Ced and it's going to be Fish and there is going be a lot expected from them this year," Dalton said. "I'm not going to say it's rebuilding. But we feel like those guys are very talented and we just have to put it all together."
With Dalton in spin-control mode, the Bengals can only cross their fingers and hope this all works out.
