Bengals Announce Surprising Preseason Plans for Joe Burrow

The Cincinnati Bengals are entering the seventh season with Zac Taylor as head coach and Year 5 of the Joe Burrow Era under center after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 Draft.

Burrow had the best season of his career statistically last season, but it did not translate into wins. Cincy finished 9-8 for the second straight season and missed the playoffs again.

Last year the Bengals went down swinging with five wins in a row to end the regular season, but it was another slow start that constricted their chances at a postseason berth. This is becoming an unfortunate trend in the Taylor and Burrow timeline.

Because of this, Taylor told Bengals reporter Ben Baby that he is prepared to play Burrow more "than we ever have" in the preseason this year. He also said Burrow will have no limitations in early-season practices.

This schedule and increased workload early in the year hopes to get the Bengals off to a faster start to the regular season. Other than Burrow being healthy, Cincinnati benefits from star receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins having their contract situations resolved, allowing them all to focus solely on football to build chemistry early.

This is nice and all ... but it may be unnecessary, to a point.

Cincinnati had a top-10 offense last season, and the No. 1 passing attack. Burrow led the NFL in yards and touchdowns, many of them to Chase, who led the league at his position in the same categories.

The offense isn't the unit needing work in the preseason against second-teamers. Reps? Sure. But any extended workload beyond a shakeout could risk injury.

Where the Bengals struggled most was defensively (25th ranked defense in NFL last season), and the team hasn't done themselves much favors on that side of the ball this offseason. Two ugly contract impasses with edge rushers Trey Hendrickson and rookie Shemar Stewart are interrupting what would be any conversations about improving the team entering training camp.

In 2024, Burrow played just a fraction of the first preseason game, going 5/7 with a touchdown as he returned to the field after wrist surgery.

The Bengals are 1-7-1 in preseason games over the last three seasons. Maybe stringing together wins is Taylor's emphasis, not just getting the offense clicking.

In Year 1 with Burrow, the team continued to falter after a league-worst record the year before, starting 1-5-1 and having double-digit losses by Week 14. In 2021, a solid 3-1 start may have turned on a light switch that guided the Bengals to the Super Bowl that season. The next year, they were 2-3 early, but were able to finish 12-4 and reach the AFC Championship Game.

Since then, things have gotten off to rough starts. Cincinnati started 1-3 in 2023 and 0-3 in 2024 before missing the playoffs both years.

Burrow will be needed if the Bengals want to find wins in this year's preseason. Their first game on Aug. 7 is in Philadelphia against the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles. Then, they go to the nation's capital to face the NFC runner-up Commanders on Aug. 18 and conclude preseason with a home game against the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 23.