Cincinnati Bengals helmet Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals lost a crucial piece to their puzzle on Friday. Offensive lineman D’ante Smith suffered a torn patellar tendon, a dispiriting and devastating injury. The injury will cause Smith to miss the entire 2024 NFL regular season.

Jeremy Fowler, one of ESPN’s resident NFL reporters, broke the news on Smith’s status, which deflated Bengals fans and otherwise.

Smith is a native of Georgia who attended East Carolina from 2016 to 2020. In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Smith with a fourth-round pick. Since then, he’s played on a limited basis. But it’s still difficult news to swallow.

Cincinnati figured Smith would be a depth piece behind Orlando Brown Jr. and rookie Amarius Mims on the other side. Now, though, the Bengals might have to look elsewhere with Smith gone for the entire 2024 season. Hopefully, he can make a full recovery and return to action in 2025.

The NFL world reacted to the news on Smith, wishing him well and hoping the best for his recovery.

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[Jeremy Fowler]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022