Jermaine

Burton

Being suspended for this week’s game was the last straw for Burton, who can have the final two years and change of his rookie deal claimed off waivers if any other team is amenable to it. We’d doubt that happens based on how prolonged the turmoil of his off-field habits remained a story in Cincinnati. (It has to be pretty bad to be a constant story in Cincinnati.) Burton ends his Bengals career with four catches for 107 yards on 14 targets, none of which happened this season as he fell behind Mitchell Tinsley.

The team officially called it a suspension for the second-year wideout. Burton was questionable for Week 14 versus the Bills because of an ankle injury, though that’s not why he was ruled out. He has previously been made a healthy scratch after missing team meetings and hasn’t appeared in a game this year. We have likely seen the last of Burton in a Bengals uniform.

The 80th overall pick of the 2024 draft class has fallen behind Mitchell Tinsley in the pecking order and has not received a snap yet this season after spending most of last year as the guy the coaching staff was willing to call out for showing up late and not working hard enough. This has little fantasy impact.

Hendrickson is sidelined by a hip injury, though the Bengals fortunately get EDGE Shemar Stewart (ankle) back after a four-game absence. Taylor-Britt has evidently been benched in favor of CB Josh Newton this week. The Bengals’ offense lost two tight ends last week, with Hudson suffering a concussion and Mike Gesicki suffering a pectoral injury that landed him on injured reserve this week. Bengals TE Noah Fant is suddenly on the streaming TE1 radar as a result.

Chase was seen warming up earlier today and evidently made it through the session without issue. He remains firmly in the elite WR1 tier, having finished as the overall WR1 last week despite catching passes from fill-in starter QB Jake Browning. The Bengals traded for former Browns QB Joe Flacco this week, who, with any luck, will help stabilize the Bengals’ offense overall. The Bengals declared CB Marco Wilson, OG Dylan Fairchild, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Cam Grandy, DT Jordan Jefferson and EDGE Shemar Stewart inactive for Week 6 against the Packers

Despite reports of progress for Burton this offseason, he’s been inactive for all five games so far this year. Andrei Iosivas remains the team’s No. 3 receiver against a depleted Lions secondary. Mitchell Tinsley has taken the No. 4 spot ahead of Burton.

The Bengals didn’t have anyone with an injury designation heading into Week 2. Burton is a healthy scratch for the second week in a row.

Burton reportedly made progress this offseason after a rookie campaign plagued by off-field issues. The fact that he made the roster shows the Bengals still have some hope for him, but it’s not going to happen early in the year. Andrei Iosivas remains the team’s No. 3 receiver versus Cleveland.

Other than the Bengals sad first-team defense, Tinsley was the talk of last night’s preseason game between the Bengals and the Commanders with a 5/73/2 display on six targets, including two extremely nice end zone catches, one from Joe Burrow. Dehner adds that Tinsley’s performance “had him running with the first team during certain practices.” Do we need to scrap the entire depth chart and worry about Ja’Marr Chase’s target share? No. But Tinsley could potentially push Andrei Iosivas for some time in the third receiver role, and perhaps scoot ahead of Jermaine Burton at last cuts.

Burton remains in the hunt for one of the Bengals’ Nos. 3 or 4 wide receiver roles. A standout showing in the preseason would go a long way toward that end.