Burrow to get ‘limited number of snaps’ in preseason finale

Simply put the Bengals felt it was best for the team to get Burrow back into a game situation before the opener.

“It will be good to get him out there in front of the home crowd, a very similar environment to as Week 1 will be, in terms of being at home, time of day, all that stuff, vaguely,” Taylor said in a press conference Wednesday. “So, it will be good to get those guys out there and get them next to each other in the huddle with the coaches off the field and the fans cheering them on.”

The Bengals looked at past situations with players coming off similar injuries to see how other coaches handled the balance of wanting to protect the individual versus wanting to provide a chance to get the feel for a game again before the ones that matter begin.

Each injury and player is different, but the main thing is being smart with the number of snaps and the types of play calls, which likely will be very vanilla.

“We’ve certainly talked through every situation we could find over the last 10, 15 years, but again, every person’s unique,” Taylor said. “The timing of every injury was a little bit different. We gotta do what’s best for Joe, what’s best for the team. We felt like this is what fits best.”

Taylor said Burrow was informed a couple weeks ago that it might be possible for him to get into the final preseason game but more recently he was told that it would be a reality.

The Bengals have seen everything they need to feel confident he will be ready for Week 1, but Taylor said getting him in the game Sunday will be good for the team and fans.

“It’ll be a fun moment for all of us,” Taylor said.

Burrow is looking more comfortable in the pocket again and even starting to connect on some deep balls, which had been lacking earlier in training camp. He threw one deep to Tee Higgins for a touchdown in 11 on 11s during Monday’s practice and had a good day with Ja’Marr Chase as well.

“I think Joe looks really good in the pocket,” Taylor said. “He knows a big part of that play (to Higgins) is you’ve got to buy some time. It is a sound protection. It is an eight-man protection at the same time. It takes a while to get down the field on that particular play that you guys saw, and so he did a nice job pushing up and making a great throw. And Tee, that was a great route by Tee. Really, being at the mark he needed to be, going up and really making a play in somewhat traffic there. He had to pull through some contact.”

The protection up front is looking better, Taylor noted. Through two preseason games, there has been just one sack, and even that came after a bad snap.

Quinton Spain and Xavier Su’a-Filo will start at guard for a second straight game Sunday. The two veterans seem to be separating themselves from the others in the biggest position battle this preseason, but Taylor said that isn’t necessarily an indication they will be the starters Week 1. It seems reasonable to believe Burrow’s snaps would be along with the guys who will be lining up in front of him against Minnesota in the opener, but D’Ante Smith, Mike Jordan and Jackson Carman will get plenty of chances Sunday to make a case.

“It’s just the approach we’re taking in this game,” Taylor said. “The younger guys, D’Ante’s been out recently. Jackson we want to continue to give a lot of reps to, Mike Jordan needs a lot of reps as well so, it’s more just let’s let those guys continue to get reps. Often times with Quinton and Xavier, we want to take care of them anyway just because we want to monitor their reps in practice and games so it all just factors in the decision to play certain guys a certain amount of time.”

Backup quarterback Brandon Allen will play the rest of the first half once Burrow is done and could come out to start the second half as well. As for the defense, the starters won’t even play Sunday.

Taylor has been impressed with the defense’s performance so far but with many decisions to make on the back end of the roster, it’s important to give players trying to earn a spot more opportunities. By the end of Sunday’s game, the Bengals should have a good idea where they stand – especially compared to last year when there was no preseason.

“Comfortable is a tough word for me but you feel like you’re in a better place, and I’m sure the other 31 teams in the league feel the same way,” Taylor said. “This is the way it’s meant to be. We’re meant to have a full training camp, full preseason, we’re meant to play these games to see how guys do in the limelight, the spotlight so it’s good. We feel like we’re in a good place right now. Our players have responded well. We’re in a good spot. We feel like we’re in a really good place going into Preseason Game No. 3.”

SUNDAY’S GAME

Dolphins at Bengals, 4 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7