Joe Burrow looked very much ready for the regular season as the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Washington Commanders in a Monday Night Football exhibition, completing 9-of-14 passes for 62 yards and ending two of his three drives in the end zone. But it was what happened on the unsuccessful series that caught the eye of ESPN's halftime panel.
Burrow was sacked twice by the Commanders defense, which had some wondering why he was out there putting his body on the line in a meaningless game. And why such a seasoned quarterback was allowing himself to be hit like that.
"I get it, the starts to the season mentally with all of that foolishness," Marcus Spears said, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. "No. 1 is Joe's got to be smarter than this. And then, Zac Taylor's to that point got to protect him. 'Look man, you ain't going out there no more.' After this one happened, that was it. But then he goes in and gets hit again. This is the absolute worst possible scenario... I don't care what nobody says. Joe Burrow might go throw for 500 yards in the first game, which is highly likely with what he has. But this situation has never been right to me. It's never been right."
"He shouldn't even be doing that in the regular season," Jason Kelce pointed out. "Like what are you doing running around taking those hits? He's pressing because he knows the sense of urgency is right now. And yeah, I would've pulled him after the first one. Sometimes you've got to save somebody from themselves."
It's a debate as old as time. There's always a fine line to walk in making sure your football team is prepared for when the games start counting while making sure no one gets injured in what is a very dangerous sport. Lamenting the fact that a player was involved in two collisions is a pretty quick route to realizing that they probably shouldn't be out there at all because it's very hard to play football without getting tackled or tackling someone else.
But, obviously, concern for Burrow is warranted. The Bengals' entire year rests on him remaining healthy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN's Analysts Were Concerned About Joe Burrow Getting Hit in Preseason Game.
