After two straight seasons without a playoff berth, the Bengals are changing their preseason approach.
Head coach Zac Taylor announced that quarterback Joe Burrow and the starting offense will play “several” series during Cincinnati’s preseason opener against the Eagles. The expectation is that Taylor will have his starters out for the first quarter before going to his backups.
#Bengals coach Zac Taylor tells reporters that QB Joe Burrow and other big name players will play several series on Thursday night and more in game two against the #Commanders. New way of doing it, with eyes on starting fast.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 5, 2025
This is a change from previous years, when Cincinnati’s offense saw very little action during preseason games. While most teams are leaning into resting their starters for most of the preseason, the Bengals hope to gain an advantage by increasing their starters’ exposure.
Here’s a breakdown of why Joe Burrow will play more this preseason.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Why is Joe Burrow playing in the preseason?
The Bengals plan on playing their starters more this preseason in an attempt to avoid starting slow. Last year, Burrow threw seven passes total in the preseason, which is the most he’s ever thrown in one stretch of preseason games.
Head coach Zac Taylor said this is part of Cincinnati’s revamped training camp schedule aimed at producing a quicker start to the season. The Bengals have started 0-2 in each of the past three seasons, which has forced them into early holes in the AFC standings.
In past years, Joe Burrow dealt with a variety of injuries that limited his preseason participation. Now that he is healthy, head coach Zac Taylor believes it should cause a ripple effect with the rest of the team.
“When your quarterback’s not playing, why is your left tackle playing? Why’s Ja’Marr (Chase) playing?” he said. “Now we’ve got guys that are ready to go, we want to give these guys there snaps.”
Zac Taylor confirms that we’ll see Joe Burrow and other Bengals starters in the preseason 🔥@heykayadams | @Bengals #WhoDey pic.twitter.com/niqFiGfdpz
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) August 5, 2025
Taylor said his starters will see action against the Eagles this week and against the Commanders next week.
MORE: The top potential trade landing spots for Trey Hendrickson
Has Joe Burrow played in preseason before?
Burrow has played in just two preseason games in his career, once in 2021 and again for a game in 2024. In his first preseason game, he threw just one pass and didn’t record a completion, and last year, he went 5-7 in the first preseason game of the year, totaling 51 yards and a touchdown.
While some of this is due to the Bengals protecting their quarterback, Burrow has also dealt with injuries in training camp, like when he needed an appendectomy in 2022 and had a right calf strain in 2023. Last year, Burrow was still recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
Cincinnati hopes that a healthy Burrow playing in the preseason will allow the entire team to start quicker.
MORE: Trey Hendrickson’s contract dispute with Bengals, explained
Bengals history of slow starts
| Year | Record through two games | Season record |
| 2020 | 0-2 | 4-11-1 |
| 2021 | 1-1 | 10-7 |
| 2022 | 0-2 | 12-4 |
| 2023 | 0-2 | 9-8 |
| 2024 | 0-2 | 9-8 |
Since drafting Joe Burrow in 2020, the Bengals are 1-9 in Weeks 1 and 2 of the regular season and 0-6 in those games during the past three seasons. In some cases, Cincinnati was able to rebound from the slow start to still make the playoffs, but the Bengals were unable to do so in the past two seasons.
This year, the Bengals open the season against the Browns and Jaguars, two teams that finished the 2024 regular season with a combined 7-27 record. Cincinnati is hoping that a different approach in the preseason will help the team get off to a faster start.
MORE: The top potential trade landing spots for Terry McLaurin
