Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) sits on the bench in the first quarter of the NFL preseason game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. PHOTO USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
In recent years, the Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to get out of the starting gate.
Cincinnati opened 0-3 last season on its way to a 9-8 record. The Bengals missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year despite finishing with five straight wins.
So head coach [Zac Taylor is trying a different approach](https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/bengals-qb-joe-burrow-offers-ho-hum-reaction-to-sizzling-start-in-most-extensive-preseason-acton-of-career-01k23kj21qvg) this season.
Quarterback Joe Burrow, who had played a total of 15 preseason snaps in the first five seasons of his career, matched that total Thursday night in a 34-27 loss to the host Philadelphia Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions.
“We got 15 reps tonight,” Burrow said. “We’re 15 reps better.”
Burrow completed 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns — a 12-yarder to Tanner Hudson and a 36-yarder to Ja’Marr Chase.
Burrow, who had attempted just eight previous preseason passes, called the performance “average.”
“I missed the first throw. That was disappointing,” Burrow said. “After that we locked in and had a couple of nice drives. Next week I’d like to be a little better. I could have been better with the first throw. I put all the other ones where I wanted to put them. I would have liked to have spun it a little better.”
The Bengals are 1-11 in Weeks 1 and 2 during Taylor’s six-year tenure, which is why the starters are getting additional repetitions this summer.
“Just the threat of being hit is a big reason we want those guys out there,” Taylor said of Burrow. “He knows he’s not going to get hit in practice. So I think just for it to feel real in a game, whether he’s getting hit or not, I think just him having the knowledge that it’s possible … that’s a whole different (feel). You can’t simulate that rep in practice.”
Taylor said the starters likely would play even more in the next preseason game Aug. 18 at Washington before throttling back in the exhibition finale.
The Bengals will play three of their first four regular-season games on the road, including a Monday night game at Denver, before returning home to face Detroit, which went 15-2 last season to earn the NFC’s top playoff seed.
Burrow, who guided the Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second season and the AFC title game in his third, said he agreed with the new approach.
“Yeah, 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, but I think we’re making the right decision this year, and I think that’s going to benefit us in the long run.”