The Cincinnati Bengals selected wide receiver Jermaine Burton in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Since then, they have not been overly thrilled with their decision.
In his rookie year, Burton caught four balls in 14 games for 107 yards and no touchdowns. Most NFL experts would agree that’s poor to quite poor. Following his one-catch performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in the team’s first preseason game, some thought his absence from Sunday’s practice with an undisclosed injury was peculiar.
Burton was in the locker room after practice and declined to speak to reporters, but Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher talked about his progression during camp.
“He made a lot of plays early in camp. Jermaine’s best when you when you can get him in a true one-on-one matchup down the sideline,” Pitcher said on Sunday. “He can track the ball in the air. He’s got tremendous ball skills, [he] didn’t have a lot of opportunity to show that the other night. The single word I keep coming back to Jermaine is just consistency, right? You don’t have a lot of opportunity the other night. How do we respond? How do how do we go about our day-to-day professional job? And that’s that’s we’ll just continue to be the emphasis with him.”
Pitcher doesn’t sound ebullient.
Jermaine Burton responds to critics
Some of the speculation is warranted. Burton was a healthy scratch last year for the Las Vegas Raiders game because he was a “no call, no show” at the Saturday walkthrough. That kind of thing can ruffle feathers amongst the coaching staff.
Burton released a statement addressing the speculation about his absence from Sunday’s practice.
“Several posts and headlines have circulated regarding my absence from on the field yesterday. Unfortunately, some of these reports have omitted important context, leading to false assumptions about my commitment and character,” Burton said in a statement.
“To be clear—my absence was DUE TO INJURY, not for any other reason. Any suggestion otherwise is simply untrue. I take my role with the Bengals and my preparation for this season seriously and I am focused on recovering and getting back on the field as soon as possible.”
Jermaine Burton scolds the media
So, it certainly doesn’t sound like Burton is about to be released or traded. Or, at the very least, he’s aware of no such thing. The media have been speculating about his future with the Bengals for some time now. After he didn’t travel with the team for a must-win Week 18 matchup with the Steelers, some thought it was time for the team to move on.
As far as Burton is concerned, the media is going after him unfairly.
“I appreciate those in the media who report responsibly and truthfully,” the statement continued. “For those who do not, understand that misleading headlines, your clickbait articles at the expense of my reputation and selective wording have real impacts not just on me, but on my family, teammates and fans. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with support. I’ll be back out there soon, and I look forward to continuing to work hard for this team and our fans.”
Is Burton’s response to all of this an acknowledgement that something might be up?
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