One of the few aspects of the Cincinnati Bengals' upcoming year that will interest fans is the performance of star quarterback Joe Burrow and how he comes back from a season-ending wrist injury suffered in 2023. Fans will not have to wait too long as Burrow is set to play in the Bengals' preseason opener against Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Saturday.
Burrow has only thrown one pass in the exhibition games in his career as there was no preseason during 2020 in his rookie season due to COVID-19 and was held out of every one due to injuries. Burrow would say he is “excited” to finally play in the preseason so he can get better according to Greg Auman of Fox Sports.
“I'm excited for it,” Burrow said as he looks to play his first game after the wrist injury happened in November that shut him down for the rest of the season. “I'm excited to get these reps and have these reps to get better right now.”
Burrow explains difference between preseason and joint practice
Last season, Burrow played in 10 games where he threw for 2,309 yards to go along with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions as he's been trying to find some consistency with health. The LSU product explained to the media how playing in preseason games is different to that of joint practices which Cincinnati will be in during training camp.
“I'm going to have the opportunity to get hit,” Burrow said. “Maybe I get hit, maybe I don't. It's a game. It's a scrimmage, but it's a live scrimmage. That's the best way to prepare for Week 1, I think. We'll see, but I think we're going about it the right way.”
When healthy, Burrow is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has proven time and time again his talent like when he took the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2022, though they would lose to the Los Angeles Rams. The 27-year old was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft which featured other star quarterbacks like Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa, Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert, and Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love.
Bengals coach talks Burrow in preseason
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor would confirm that they have “targeted the first game” for Burrow and other starters to be on the field. According to Fox Sports, Taylor said he is aware of the injury risks, but the goal is to improve after a relatively disappointing season last year.
“I've targeted the first game,” Taylor said via Auman. “I'm not setting anything in stone right now, but I'm optimistic that's where it's trending right now for our team, and then we'll make decisions after that.”
“Everything needs to improve on our football team,” Taylor continued. “We went 9-8. So everything on offense needs to improve, everything on defense needs to improve. Everything we're doing in this camp is focused on making us a better team than last year. We don't forget anything that maybe we did poorly or was perceived as a weakness last year. We've got to improve on all of it.”
The Bengals are looking to improve after finishing with a 9-8 record which put them last in the NFC North. They open against the New England Patriots on Sept. 8.
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