Does Joe Burrow still support Zac Taylor amid Bengals' playoff drought?

For the third time in three years, the Cincinnati Bengals will miss the playoffs under head coach Zac Taylor. 

There's currently no indication the Bengals will part ways with either Taylor or team director of player personnel/de facto general manager Duke Tobin later in January. Burrow sounds ready to work with those two and the rest of the Bengals front office to help the club turn things around. 

Joe Burrow has "great communication" with Zac Taylor, others

"We have a great line of communication," Burrow explained while speaking with reporters on Wednesday, per Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Me and Duke, [executive vice president Katie Blackburn], [vice president Troy Blackburn], [president Mike Brown], Zac. We have great communication."

Of course, Burrow's health has been a major talking point on multiple occasions during his Cincinnati tenure. His 2023 season ended prematurely because of a wrist injury, and he suffered a toe injury in Week 2 of the ongoing campaign that left him needing surgery and kept him sidelined until Week 13. 

With Burrow out of action, the Bengals fell from 2-0 to 3-8 this fall. Nevertheless, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported on Wednesday that Taylor "appears to be safe" and is not expected to be dismissed. 6-10 Cincinnati will finish its season with a home game against the Cleveland Browns (4-12) this coming Sunday. 

Joe Burrow challenges Bengals to change approach

While Burrow has been supportive of Taylor, the signal-caller also isn't thrilled with the fact that he'll once again be watching playoff games from home. 

"Yeah, we want to be competing for championships every year," Burrow said. "We don't want to be in the spot we are in now, so something's got to change, whether it's players we have continuing to improve and get better and play championship caliber football, or bringing in guys that will or whatever it may be. Obviously, something has to."

Back in December, Burrow raised eyebrows when he mentioned he needed "to have fun [playing] again." Some wondered if those comments suggested he could look for a way out of Cincinnati this coming offseason, but it appears that isn't the case. 

"I think I have fun playing football," Burrow explained, according to ESPN's Ben Baby. "It's certainly difficult when you can't. And, you know, I had fun last year, too. Certainly frustrating at times. That's life in the NFL. That's life of playing sports. That's why you play it. At the beginning, you feel emotions that you don't feel in other parts of your life. Highs, lows, all the above, everything in between."