Collins has one of those outgoing personalities that plays well in an offensive line room where there always seems to be more strong, silent types. And in the locker room. Taylor ordered a really nice, leather-bound card table for his guys when he saw the defensive backs had resorted to a table from the training room.
Collins stepped right up from the offensive line lockers and showed off a nifty card trick when he surveyed the deck spread all across the table. He told a reporter to pick out a card in the mess and went to work. A few minutes later, he pulled out (four of hearts) the right one.
Collins is quarterback Joe Burrow’s third right tackle in as many openers and he’s glad to have him. Burrow has been known to shake some salt, too.
“He brings toughness. Big, strong athletic guy,” Burrow said before practice. “We know exactly what we’re going to get out of LC. He’s going to know exactly what he’s doing, he’s going to block his guy, he’s going to bring toughness, physicality and all of that. He’s a great guy to have.”
Callahan says Collins has been excellent blocking people in pass protection and with getting his third and fourth padded practices Wednesday and Thursday, Callahan thinks he’s on pace to hit his stride next week, their first game week.
Even though Volson is about to play his first NFL snap (according to Pro Football Reference he’s the first Bengal born in North Dakota), Callahan says he fits right in on Collins’ edge.
“Cordell has little bit of that himself,” Callahan said. “Don’t sleep on that aw-shucks thing he’s got going. He looks to finish people all the time. So I think that’s a good mix and to finally get those guys coming together, it’s fun to watch.”
Volson is all in on the edge.
“That’s the way I like to play the game. I think that’s the way you have to play the game,” Volson said. “There’s a lot of emotion involved. You have to have a little edge to you. I think there’s a lot of guys in our room that have and I’m excited to play with them.”