Bengals Moving Andrew Whitworth To LG For Final Two Games To Give Cedric Ogbuehi An Opportunity

Bob Holtzman of ESPN reports that Bengals veteran LT Andrew Whitworth agreed to temporarily move to left guard to allow the team to take a look at 2015 first-round pick Cedric Ogbuehi at left tackle.

The Bengals plan to employ a redesigned offensive line for Saturday’s game against the Texans, and there had been some talk that a move inside was possible for Whitworth.

Earlier in the week, Whitworth mentioned that he believes has the ability to shift inside and play guard if that ended up being a consideration for the team.

“I still see myself as having value in that,” Whitworth said, via Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I feel with my kind of strength that’s something that’s definitely a positive for me, so I think that you can move inside when you’re a big powerful guy. Not all tackles can do that, but I’m really comfortable in there, have played really well in there and know that I could still do that. Yeah, if the body is still feeling good, for sure.

“If I sat there and said hey, as a tackle, how much longer can I go? I feel like at tackle I still have some years and at guard I for sure have years. I feel like it’s one of those things that you have to stay open if you want to keep playing.”

Whitworth is well aware of the fact that the Bengals have added multiple young offensive tackles to their roster, but he hasn’t thought much about his contract situation as it relates to his future with the Bengals.

“Really I hadn’t thought about it a lot,” Whitworth said. “The main thoughts I’ve had is that I know I don’t have a whole lot more chances to win a Super Bowl. So, you really start thinking what you can do to help your team be better, how you can be better, what you can do, not just on the field, off of it, teaching, encouraging, all those things, challenging, to help your team be successful. That’s my biggest focus right now.

“And much like I always say, if you play really well, you lead well, you give teams a reason to desire you to be a part of their football team, your options will always be open. I’ve never seen that not be the case. I think if you play at a level, at a certain kind of level, and are a certain kind of teammate sand a certain kind of leader, the offers are always going to be there.”

Whitworth, 35, is a former second-round pick of the Bengals back in 2006. He’s currently in the final year of his two-year, $14.2 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $5.8 million this year before testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent next year.

In 2016, Whitworth has appeared in 14 games for the Bengals and is rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 2  offensive tackle out of 78 qualifying players.