The Cincinnati Bengals had high hopes for Jermaine Burton when they selected him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Recently, the rookie WR has been making waves across the NFL news landscape. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with his play. What’s going on with Burton?
Jermaine Burton Deactivated for Missing Walkthrough
Anyone who’s ever had a job knows you have to show up for work. If you’re not going to be there, you need to let your employers know.
The Bengals held a walkthrough on the Saturday before their Week 9 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Burton did not show up. As a result of his actions, the Bengals made Burton a healthy inactive for Sunday’s game.
As if that wasn’t enough, someone spotted Burton at a casino over the weekend. That photo made its way around the internet.
Burton what you doin pic.twitter.com/f4nMrWK0J2
— Joe Burrow Fan Club (@JoeyBClub) November 4, 2024
There’s obviously nothing inherently wrong with a player sitting alone at a casino playing some slots. However, if this came the night before Burton missed the walkthrough, that would reflect even more poorly on the young receiver.
This is an inauspicious start to the rookie’s career. However, we’re still talking about a 23-year-old. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when we’re young. Ja’Marr Chase had some thoughtful remarks about his teammate.
"My play apologized."
2 minutes of excellent conversation w/ Ja'Marr Chase – on Jermaine Burton's situation.
His rookie season, Ja'Marr missed a meeting before Baltimore game.
– Last time he was ever late
– Had best game of season
– Doesn't need apology from Jermaine pic.twitter.com/2vMVAidhfq— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 5, 2024
Chase being the team’s first-round superstar compared to Burton being a third-round depth receiver does matter. That’s the nature of the NFL. Better players are given more slack for questionable decisions. The same transgression that gets a superstar slapped on the wrist could get a back-of-the-roster player cut.
Burton’s punishment was not being able to play. But Chase put it best. “He’s gonna learn from it. Experience. And hopefully it don’t [sic] happen again.” He added that Burton doesn’t necessarily need to apologize to the team. It’s more important that he fixes the problem.
Chase hasn’t missed or shown up late for a meeting since his rookie year. Hopefully, Burton has learned his lesson and will be a model teammate going forward.
Burton caught 39 passes for 798 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season at Alabama. Considered a very talented player, Burton fell in the draft due to off-the-field concerns. Former ‘Bama head coach Nick Saban spoke on this.
“I really, really like this guy, (but) the No. 1 thing that he needs to do — and I think emotional maturity is the best way to say it — is do the right things all the time. He does the right things on the field. He knows the importance of what he has to do in the field. He wants to be a player. That’s all he thinks about.”
So far, Burton has not done the right things all the time off the field. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience and the last time Burton makes headlines for something other than his play.
This is still a very young player and there is plenty of time for him to turn things around and emerge into a productive NFL receiver.