The elbow sticks out less from the collector pipe than the O2 sensor does. If you install it so that it angles upward toward the engine, when you install the O2 sensor into it, the sensor is parallel to the collector. It's actually more compact than it would be without it.
I'll try to get a picture tomorrow, maybe. Gotta get way under the car to get that photo. Unless I can do it from the engine bay.