Bengals TE Erick All Returns to Full Health, Back in Spring Work After Second ACL Tear

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Erick All is back to full health, a return that could reshape how the team plans its tight end group as the 2026 offseason continues. Pro Football Rumors reported that All has been able to participate in Bengals spring practices after coming all the way back following what had been a major injury history, including a second ACL tear.

The injury stakes behind his absence were significant. Pro Football Rumors said an ACL tear abruptly ended All’s college career, and that a repeat injury to the same knee then affected his early professional timeline. The report links the second ACL tear to an abbreviated rookie season and to an absence spanning the entire 2025 campaign.

From a roster-construction standpoint, All’s return matters because tight ends are often relied on for both pace-setting pass routes and run-game continuity. If All is truly cleared and working through spring phases without restriction, the Bengals can get more meaningful evaluation of his current athletic readiness rather than planning around a recovery window.

All’s situation also carries a particular level of risk that teams and players do not treat lightly. ACL recoveries can vary widely, and the fact that the injury is described as occurring in the same knee as a prior tear is the type of detail that heightens caution. That makes spring participation important as a first visible step, even though it is still early relative to the full demands of training camp and the season.

The Bengals, like most NFL teams, use the offseason to sort out roles: which tight ends are primarily inline blockers, which can win on the seam, and which can provide motion and mismatch value. A fully healthy All would create another option in that process, potentially widening the Bengals’ play-calling menu and allowing coaches to build cleaner depth behind their primary contributors.

Still, there is a difference between being medically cleared and being fully game-ready. Even with spring reps, players coming off major knee injuries typically need time to regain full sharpness, route precision under contact, and the ability to take and absorb the speed of live practice. For now, the practical takeaway is that the Bengals are getting him back into the football routine that fans never see during rehabilitation.

What to watch next is simple: whether All continues to progress through the later offseason stages, and whether his reps and responsibilities grow as the team moves closer to roster decisions. If that momentum holds, All’s return would mark more than a feel-good milestone, it would directly affect how the Bengals shape their tight end rotation for the coming season.