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          Joe Burrow, stellar in practice, skips Bengals' preseason finale

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterAug 23, 2024, 12:35 AM ET
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- Joe Burrow wanted to play in the preseason finale Thursday night. But coach Zac Taylor said that after what Burrow did earlier in the week, there was no need for Cincinnati's star quarterback to suit up before Week 1.

          Burrow and all of Cincinnati's projected starters watched from the sideline in the team's 27-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Taylor said the way Burrow looked in the joint practice against the Colts on Tuesday was more than satisfactory.

          "I thought that kind of put the nail on the coffin of training camp," Taylor said Thursday. "That was the right way to do it."

          During Thursday night's broadcast, Burrow indicated he wanted to be on the field. After handling the first drive of the preseason opener against Tampa Bay, he did not take any in-game reps leading into the finale against the Colts.

          Taylor said Burrow's availability for Thursday night had been "on the table at times," but the decision to keep him and the other starters healthy trumped any benefits of prep work in game action.

          As Burrow continued his recovery from a season-ending injury to a ligament in his throwing wrist, the Bengals managed his workload during offseason workouts and at times during training camp.

          But Taylor said the accuracy, decision-making and completion rate made his joint practice against the Colts look like some of his best work from a year ago.

          "I thought the Colts practice was one of his best practices of the year, reminiscent of many of the games he played last year when he was healthy," Taylor said.

          Bengals wide receiver Kwamie Lassiter II said Burrow was stepping up in the pocket, had good velocity on his passes and had excellent ball placement, including on two passes to wide receiver Tee Higgins.

          It probably wasn't a coincidence, Lassiter said, that Burrow's outing came against another squad instead of against his own teammates in a regular practice.

          "It's that competitive nature that he's got," Lassiter said Thursday night. "He wants to kill whoever's in front of him, just like every athlete should. He had a good practice."

          Burrow wasn't scheduled to speak to reporters after the game but issued one comment as he walked into the locker room: "See you in a couple of weeks."