The Cincinnati Bengals just named linebacker Logan Wilson a captain for the 2025 season. After his 2024 season was cut short with a knee injury, Logan was chosen as a leader for the team in his sixth season.
Last week, I had a chance to talk to Wilson about several things, including the knee injury, his recovery, Al Golden’s return to Cincinnati, and how he protects himself on the field by wearing a device called Q-Collar.
“Body’s feeling good. Luckily, the knee surgery I needed was basically like an oil change for my knee,” Wilson said when I asked how his knee was feeling heading in to the season.
“It was honestly something I could’ve gotten done last offseason, had I known what was really going on,” Wilson continued. “But we weren’t really sure, so we kind of tried to play through it, and it eventually got to the point where I just couldn’t even sit in my stance comfortably, really,” he said.
Wilson also told me that he spent much of this offseason in Tampa, Florida, rehabbing his knee, to make sure he was back and ready for Week 1.
Wilson also has familiarity with new Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden. Golden was actually Wilson’s position coach for his first two seasons with the Bengals before departing for Notre Dame.
When I asked how he felt about Golden’s return, Wilson said, “I kind of knew what to expect from him, what he wanted to be done, and how he wanted his defense to be run.
“It’s really been a pretty seamless transition, other than having to learn a new scheme, new verbiage,” Wilson said.
Wilson continued, “It’s been good. I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better as training camp has gone along.”
Wilson also complimented new linebackers coach, Mike Hodges, and how he has worked with not only him, but also rookie linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. He says Knight and Carter have done a “hell of a job” and expects them to help the team this season.
We also got a chance to talk about the Q-Collar, a device Wilson wears during games. You can see the device around his neck in photos, and many have wondered exactly what it is.
When I asked Wilson what the Q-Collar does, he said, “It puts pressure on your jugular vein, which essentially lets blood pool up between your brain and your skull. So, basically, it makes a cushion. So all of these little impacts you’re getting throughout the game, instead of your brain hitting your skull, essentially the blood is helping cushion that.”
“It doesn’t prevent concussions,” Wilson added. “But it helps minimize those sub-concussive impacts, which to me is a game changer. The science behind it makes complete sense.
Wilson also shared how he learned about Q-Collar, which is a device that was actually invented in Cincinnati. Former Carolina Panthers linebacker and St. Xavier grad Luke Kuechly wore them in his time in the NFL, but it was another Cincinnati native who told Wilson about them.
Wilson says his agent and his former teammate, Sam Hubbard, actually told him about it.
Wilson believes in Q-Collar so much, in fact, that he donated them to the entire Natrona County High School team in Wyoming, where he played his high school football.
“Once I was working with Q-Collar, that was one of the things I wanted to do. To be able to get it in the hands of more younger athletes just because it’s something that can help long-term health,” Wilson explained.
“It’s not going to hurt anything, so why not wear it?” Wilson continued.
You can find more information on Q-Collar at q30.com, and you can watch the full interview below: