The Cincinnati Bengals will be without their starters on the right side of the offensive line for the Wild Card round against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. Alex Cappa was injured during Sunday's win over the Ravens but Taylor said "it'll be tough" for him to play this weekend.
With Cappa not available this weekend, Max Scharping will get the start at right guard. He'll be next to Hakeem Adeniji, who is the backup to La'el Collins, giving the Bengals backups on their right side of the o-line. Not ideal.
Zac Taylor said "it'll be tough" for Alex Cappa to play this week. He doesn't know if it would be season ending.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) January 9, 2023
They'll go with Max Scharping.
Zac Taylor doesn't anticipate the Bengals having Alex Cappa back
The good news is that Taylor said he doesn't know if the injury is season-ending. It'd be huge if the Bengals could get Cappa back at some point during the playoffs, as he has a 67.6 PFF grade with a 71.4 pass-blocking grade. He's allowed just three sacks through 1,086 snaps.
In comparison, Scharping wasn't great in the pass-blocking aspect (16.1) but he dominated in the run-blocking department, with a 72.7 PFF grade. Overall, he has a 60.5 PFF grade so there's promise with Scharping as the backup.
Obviously, it's important for starters to stay healthy but the Bengals really need their o-line to avoid injuries. Cappa is probably the second-most important player on the o-line behind Ted Karras so this will be a big loss for Cincinnati heading into the playoffs.