The Bengals have announced that Joe Burrow will make his preseason debut on Sunday, against the Miami Dolphins.
Head coach Zac Taylor noted that Burrow will only play a limited number of snaps, stressing, “we’ll be smart with what we do.”
Going into the offseason, the Bengals seemed adamant that they would not risk him in the preseason. Burrow, however, was pretty open about his desire to get some game action.
Burrow was asked about the news today, and the Bengals QB was clearly happy with the decision:
“I’m excited to get out there and have a game type feel. I think it’s important, going into this last preseason game, to be as close as you can to having a game-like feel,” Burrow said.
The decision to give Burrow playing time obviously comes with some risk, and there will be many people concerned about Burrow’s health, in what is ultimately a meaningless game. However, we did see some rust from Burrow early in camp. While he seems to have shaken most of it off by now, giving him some game action should help prepare him for the upcoming season.
In addition to Burrow, C Trey Hopkins will be making his preseason debut. Hopkins is also coming off a torn ACL. With Quinton Spain and Xavier Su’a-Filo starting at the two guard spots, it seems likely that they will be the starters when the season rolls around. With Burrow and Hopkins set to play some snaps, we will be seeing the entire first team offence together in some game action for the first time.