• Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterAug 16, 2024, 02:53 PM ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports.
      He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs.
      A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle D’Ante Smith is expected to miss the upcoming season with a torn patella tendon, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The reserve lineman was injured in Thursday’s joint practice with the Chicago Bears.

Smith was the second Bengals player to suffer that injury in the joint practice. He went down roughly 10 minutes after running back Chris Evans also suffered a torn patella tendon. Evans, a fourth-year reserve, will also miss the entire season.

With Smith out, Cincinnati’s offensive line depth takes a considerable hit. Rookie Amarius Mims, the team’s first-round pick this year, will miss several weeks with a strained pectoral muscle. Veteran Trent Brown, who took over for Mims, was replaced by Cody Ford during Thursday’s joint practice because of back tightness, according to Bengals coach Zac Taylor.

Cincinnati is not expected to play its starters in Saturday’s preseason game in Chicago. The Bengals will have a joint practice against the Indianapolis Colts next week before their respective preseason finales on Thursday.

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