Latest news with #JoeBurrow
Newsweek
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
Cincinnati Bengals Under Fire After Latest Joe Burrow News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow have begun the 2025 NFL season. While it's just training camp with preseason to follow, fans could not be more excited to welcome football back. For the Bengals, the 2025 season is a chance to get back on track. After missing the playoffs last season with a 9-8 record, the Bengals are hungry. They're hungry to prove that they're still capable of being a Super Bowl contender. Burrow lead Cincinnati to the Super Bowl back in the 2021 season. Since then, the team has lost in the AFC Championship Game and missed the playoffs twice. Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals looks on prior to a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Paycor Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals looks on prior to a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Paycor Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo byWith that in mind, head coach Zac Taylor made a surprising revelation regarding Burrow heading into preseason action. Read more: Dolphins' Tyreek Hill Sends Big Warning to Rest of NFL As shared by Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team, Taylor has stated that Burrow will play more during the preseason than he has ever played before this year. "Bengals HC Zac Taylor said QB Joe Burrow will play more this preseason than ever before, as the team looks to start the season faster than in years past," Meirov wrote on X. Following that news, NFL fans have lashed out at the team. They do not think risking a quarterback who has had some nagging injury issues in recent years is a smart decision from the Bengals. "Yeah cause the offense was the big problem last year," one fan wrote. Another chimed in, "Cool but they have no D. So it don't matter." "Keep that young man healthy," a third comment said. A fourth comment read, "Starting injury prone QB all preseason is a disaster waiting to happen." "Sure. Increased Burrow preseason reps will help the D not give up 40 per game," a fifth comment said. Read more: Bills' Josh Allen Announcement Before Training Camp Has Fans Buzzing Making an attempt and change to start faster makes sense. Throwing Burrow on the field during the preseason does not. Burrow has been just fine during the regular season. Last year, he completed 70.6 percent of his pass attempts for 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions, while also running for 201 yards and two scores. He was able to play all 17 games. Only time will tell what will come from this decision. It's a definite risk, but Cincinnati is getting aggressive. Perhaps it will be the change that the Bengals need to start strong and get back to being a championship contender in the AFC. For more Cincinnati Bengals and NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
As Bengals open training camp without Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart, Ja'Marr Chase sees ‘a lot of feelings involved'
CINCINNATI — On the left side of the Cincinnati Bengals' locker room, a backpack with a No. 97 ID tag lay unopened at a locker bearing the same number. Shower towels lay unused and folded in an upper compartment. An unopened package rested on a seat atop rows of cleats. Three cubbies down, a black folding chair obstructed entrance to a locker that didn't need entering. Three sealed boxes piled in front of a No. 91 jersey. Questions loomed about when each locker would again be inhabited. Because as the Bengals kicked off training camp practices Wednesday, two key edge rushers did not report. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] All-Pro Trey Hendrickson and 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart each held out amid contract disputes. 'Obviously disappointing,' quarterback Joe Burrow said. 'You'd like to have all your guys out there Day 1 to try to build that cohesion. 'It can be frustrating. But that's the business of the NFL. That's how things go.' Hendrickson and Stewart's contract disputes stem primarily from different but related disagreements over contract guarantees. Coaches and teammates' outlook on their respective absences also reflect different but related perspectives: Multiple players and coaches reflected more concern about Stewart's absence than Hendrickson's given the rookie's inexperience compared to Hendrickson entering Year 9. And yet: The Bengals replaced defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo with Al Golden this offseason, meaning all of Cincinnati's defense has new principles to learn. Neither edge rusher is where the team wants him to be for Week 1. As a group, the Bengals' defense outplayed its offense even without Hendrickson and Stewart on the first, and unpadded, day of practice. A disguise-heavy system left Burrow frustrated his offense played 'poorly' while the defense looked 'really sharp.' 'They won the day,' Burrow said of his defense, as those around him wondered: Who, if anyone, will win the Bengals' contract negotiations? And when? [Get more Bengals news: Cincinnati team feed] Breaking down Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart's holdouts The Bengals' contract dispute with Hendrickson is within the realm of standard contract disagreements. Hendrickson is coming off consecutive 17.5-sack seasons, leading the league in sacks last year even as he turned 30 in December. Club and player agree that Hendrickson has earned a raise from the $16 million cash payout he's due on the final year of his existing deal. The value of that deal is trickier, particularly for a franchise that has long resisted multi-year guarantees. The Bengals broke that trend with Burrow and again gave multiyear guarantees to receiver Ja'Marr Chase this spring. Quarterbacks tend to encounter different extension parameters, so Chase's deal is more relevant to Hendrickson's case. Hendrickson and his camp will argue: Did you see those league-best 35 sacks in two years? The Bengals, meanwhile, will argue that Chase, 25, is the best at his position in the prime of his career … and even as they value Hendrickson, they don't consider him in his prime age nor the best at his position. Chase diagnosed the acrimony a year after his own training camp hold-in. 'It was a lot of feelings involved, even though it's not supposed to be involved,' Chase told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. 'I feel like feelings are definitely involved when they're giving away their money.' He told Hendrickson to remember each player's words and actions represent themselves first while also representing the team. 'You know you are the best in the league,' Chase said recently to Hendrickson, with whom he spoke to as recently as this week. 'You don't have to make it [known] globally at the end of the day. I mean, we both know what kind of situation we're in and who we're dealing with.' Rookie holdouts, on the other hand, are not what the NFL is used to dealing with as the rookie wage scale dictates the value of players' first contracts based on factors including their draft slot. Value debates arise much more often on extensions. Stewart and his agent, Zac Hiller, are disputing contract language the Bengals changed. In rookie contracts this year, the Bengals strengthened their language on the ability to void future guarantees if players engage in conduct detrimental to the team, a source with knowledge of the contract told Yahoo Sports. Cincinnati already had a clause referencing that void ability, which it has not used. But the Bengals added the three words 'at any time' to the clause, per source, as they desired to 'clarify the meaning of the words.' The Bengals insist the language is more in line with the league standard, a claim sources from multiple clubs confirmed to Yahoo Sports. The sources said their own clubs, as well as previous clubs they worked for, used that or similar language as a method of protection. The Bengals were advised that the omission of 'at any time' could hurt them in mediation given its prevalence in club contracts, a source said. So far, it's hurt their ability to sign their top draft pick. 'From what I heard and what I've seen, he wants to be here, he wants to play — so I feel bad for him that it's not working out,' fellow edge rusher Joseph Ossai told Yahoo Sports. 'That rookie training camp is important. It helps you grow. It helps you knock out a lot of the rookie mistakes, so to speak. 'I pray they can get it figured out.' For Bengals, football and business intersect As Golden took the field for a sunny practice Wednesday morning, the defensive coordinator was itching to coach his players — including Stewart. 'We had so many drills set up for him,' Golden told Yahoo Sports. 'I can't wait until he gets here — just to teach him how to finish, and, when he does win early, how to come under control a little bit.' Golden, who coordinated Notre Dame's fourth-ranked defense last season before returning to the NFL, valued Stewart's ability to collapse the pocket and to rush outside and inside. He was eager to run Stewart through core fundamental drills to sharpen tackling and ball disruption, as well as how to 'escape' or get off a block. 'We've identified a couple of things and we have a couple of drills lined up for him when he does come, that can, if you will, negate any negatives and accentuate the positives,' Golden said. 'The reality of that is there's certain things that he did exceedingly well, so well, that he got drafted really high. 'And then there's certain things that I just don't believe in ignoring.' Cincinnati selected Stewart with the 17th overall pick after talent evaluators across the league were split on his value. Were Stewart's 39 pressures last season a sign of a player just cracking his potential? Or were his mere two sacks off those 39 pressures a sign something was missing on the road to dominance? 'Everybody deserves an opportunity to get better,' Golden said, 'and we just can't wait to get him out here just to go through some of the things that we think can help him increase his sack total.' Hendrickson, meanwhile, impresses Golden as 'a guy who can win a one-on-one at any point in the game' and finish in high-pressure situations. For now, neither Hendrickson nor Stewart are finishing plays — or even starting them. And after Chase's contract dispute lasted all of 2024 training camp and regular season until the 2025 offseason, uncertainty looms about when resolutions will come for the edge rushers and on what terms. Uncertainty lingers about how long their lockers will remain vacant and how long their packages will rest unopened. 'Hopeful that whatever's going on there can get resolved,' offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher told Yahoo Sports. 'We need all of our good players here to help us get where we need to go.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
5 TOUGH Questions Facing the Cincinnati Bengals in 2025 Training Camp
The Cincinnati Bengals' 2025 training camp is here, and after a rough 2024, Joe Burrow and the team have massive questions to answer! Will Trey Hendrickson's contract drama resolve, or will they lose their star defender? Can the defense rebound after firing Lou Anarumo? Will Zac Taylor finally deliver a fast start? What's the impact of the draft class like Shamar Stewart? And can they make the playoffs or face coaching heat? Bengals fans, share your thoughts in the comments! Like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more NFL insights.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bengals Joe Burrow talks about the difference between training camp and preseason games
Bengals Joe Burrow talks about the difference between training camp and preseason games after their first training camp practice on Wednesday July 23, 2025.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Joe Burrow sees a bright future for Bengals offense despite rough 1st day of training camp
CINCINNATI (AP) — Quarterback Joe Burrow said that the Cincinnati Bengals offense played 'poorly' on the first day of training camp Wednesday. But with a healthy unit that's fully participating in practices this season, Burrow is more optimistic than he has ever been about the offense hitting the ground running during the regular season. 'When we have guys back like we do, you know, it should be seamless,' Burrow said. 'Year in and year out, game in and game out. It wasn't today. So we'll watch the tape and get better from that, but you know, we have the guys in the room that have done it before, and that feels good.' Burrow led the NFL with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns last season, but he said that statically his focus this year is on completion rate even after having a career-best 70.6% accuracy in 2024, which was fourth in the league. With all of the offense's top players from last season returning, Burrow has a strong supporting cast around him. As the unit practices this summer, coach Zac Taylor said that the group is balancing building on its strengths with staying fresh and adding new elements. 'You want to continue to do the things we think we're excellent at and make people prove they can stop it,' Taylor said. 'But at the same time, you have to evolve what you're doing. We feel people are going to spend a lot of time studying us in the offseason to make sure they can hit the ground running if they play us early in the season.' Unlike previous seasons, Burrow will get a lot of time and reps in the training camp and in the preseason to go through that process. In 2020, training camp was shortened because of the pandemic. In 2021, Burrow was limited during the summer as he recovered from a torn ACL. In 2022, Burrow had an emergency appendectomy during training camp. In 2023, he strained his calf. At this point last year, he was limited during several practices as he worked back from a wrist injury. 'Right now, there is none of that,' Taylor said. 'He will participate every day like he normally would fully healthy. Then anticipate playing him more in games than we ever had.' Burrow has said for years that he wants to play more in the preseason, and he'll get that opportunity this season. That's one of several changes in place to help the Bengals have a stronger start to the season. The Bengals have dropped their first two games in each of the past three seasons. Cincinnati is practicing in the morning during training camp, implementing more physical practices and also playing its starters more in the preseason. 'I'm excited for the chance to get better,' Burrow said. 'Those are valuable reps that we haven't had in the past for good reason. I think we're making the right decision this year, and I think that's gonna benefit us in the long run.' ___ AP NFL:
