The Cincinnati Bengals expanded their reputation for taking on “character issues” with WR Jermaine Burton in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. So far this season, their latest gamble is not paying off. With two receptions (albeit for 88 yards), he is living in the doghouse.
And Burton appears to be grating on his teammates as well while doing himself no favors. The Bengals made him a healthy scratch last week after he skipped a walkthrough, and he showed little accountability for it. Asked about it in various ways, he simply repeated he has to do better.
But Burton’s teammates are certainly talking about it, particularly former Steelers CB Mike Hilton. Now a leader for the Bengals, he didn’t mince words when it came to the rookie.
“When you get to this point in your career you gotta grow up. You’re a grown man. Nobody is going to baby you anymore”, Sports Illustrated reporter James Rapien quoted Hilton as saying about Burton. “We know how talented he is and how much he can help, but he has to grow up and just mature and realize he’s gotta put the team over himself”.
The Bengals were making Jermaine Burton a key part of their game plan against the Las Vegas Raiders due to Tee Higgins’ injury. Then he no-showed at their Saturday walkthrough without any contact with the team. Accordingly, he found himself on the inactive list while the offense put up 41 points.
In Burton’s absence, TE Mike Gesicki had a breakout game with 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns. WR Andre Iosivas only caught one pass but for a touchdown. In fact, the Bengals got five touchdown passes out of Joe Burrow in their blowout win.
During his college career, Jermaine Burton put up merely solid numbers while punching multiple fans, including a woman. He established a reputation for having certain lazy traits, and those qualities impacted his draft stock.
But with Tyler Boyd leaving and Tee Higgins in his last year, the Bengals took the opportunity in the third round to acquire the problematic talent. Burton still has plenty of time to write his story, but there is a reason his teammates are frustrated. Even his agent didn’t couldn’t explain why he skipped a critical walkthrough, essentially chalking it up to youth.
“Jermaine was a big part of the plan. And as the week unfolded, there was a lot of positive things people were saying about him”, Bengals HC Zac Taylor said of Burton. “I can sit here and say it was a difficult decision to make him inactive, but it was absolutely the right decision with all the information we had”.
Taylor insisted that he still feels good about the Bengals drafting Jermaine Burton. “I still think that his best days are ahead of him. We’re going to help him get there. He wants it for himself. We want it for him as well”.
The Bengals gambled on Joe Mixon, and that worked out. To a lesser extent, so did Vontaze Burfict, whom they didn’t draft. Jermaine Burton, well, good intentions don’t always deliver good results.
