Burton missed opportunities as a rookie last year to assert himself into an offense that was trying to overcome the departure of Tyler Boyd and missing Tee Higgins at two different parts of the season due to injury.
The Bengals drafted him in the third round out of Alabama, despite some red flags, and he struggled to learn the playbook and show up on time for practices and meetings in 2024, but he seemed to have done a complete turnaround this offseason. A setback as he tries to establish himself in Year 2 isn’t ideal.
“When you’re unable to practice, obviously that’s frustrating, so I just know he’s day-to-day … but when you’re not able to perform physically, that’s only part of the job, so it’s staying in the book, staying engaged in the meetings, doing all of that,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said of Burton’s absence.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Special teams corrections
Darrin Simmons, the team’s long-time special teams coordinator, looked especially frustrated when cameras caught him in coverage of Thursday’s preseason game, while his unit struggled with penalties and some easily corrected mistakes.
Two days later, after time to process, he had a more positive outlook that he seemed to be putting on display during the game.
“Am I upset by it? Yeah, I’m upset by it, but it doesn’t do me any good -- I have to use it to teach off of, right?” Simmons said. “So, I never prescribe to the fact ‘oh, it’s a preseason game.’ It’s a game to me, but it’s an evaluation time for me, too.”
Cam Grandy’s holding penalty negated a 71-yard kick return for Gary Brightwell, and another holding penalty was charged to Jaylen Key during Jermaine Burton’s 18-yard punt return. DJ Ivey was offside on Jake Elliott’s missed field goal, and McKinnley Jackson ran into the snapper on another field goal, giving the Eagles a first down to set up a touchdown instead.
The Bengals held a special teams-heavy practice Sunday and were able to continue working on those corrections.
“The things you can control, the easy things like lining up correctly, that would be helpful (to do right),” Simmons said. “The other ones are good learning things. I think you remember this happens in the preseason every year, the officials like to call it pretty tight in preseason, but I do think a couple of those fouls are certainly fouls. They’re very good teaching moments for our guys, the first time they’ve gone against somebody else. I remember last year we practiced against some other teams, but those are good teaching moments. I have to view it as a positive.”
Simmons offered praise for Brightwell, noting running backs like him often make the best kick returners because “they are quick cutters, they are quick decision-makers and they run powerful.”
He also said it was good to see Evan McPherson nail a 51-yard field goal – something he hadn’t done in a game setting in a while after struggling in 2024 and then going down with an injury in Week 12.
As for the long snapper competition, neither Cal Adomitis or Will Wagner did anything to fall behind.
“I thought both of them did well in the game,” Simmons said. “Cal makes a heck of an effort play on a long punt return, probably stopped the guy from scoring so really good effort play. Will had two really good plays on punt as a cover player, too. He was in position on one play and I think Tanner McLachlan made the tackle and he made the tackle on the next one, so it was really both good in the punt game. And, I thought all of their field goal snaps were very good, the accuracy was very good and the lace control was very good so they both got A’s for the game. They both did what they were supposed to do.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Washington
When: 8 p.m., Monday, Aug. 18
TV: ESPN
Radio: 104.7-FM
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