Bengals Will Play Starters In Preseason Opener Vs. Detroit Lions

While much of the attention throughout training camp has been paid to the defense’s impressive showing, one storyline that hadn’t gotten any traction until Thursday is how much the starters will play in the preseason, if at all.

Well, head coach Zac Taylor clearly said Thursday that the starters will play next Thursday in the first preseason game against the Detroit Lions. 

“They will play a little bit. We’ll just determine how much at a later date,” Taylor said.

Perhaps this is another feather in the cap of the Bengals not messing around going into this season, showing a sense of urgency not seen in several years. Joe Burrow said before the Bengals went on their “summer break” that he wished the Bengals could have started training camp right after minicamp. The fact that Burrow won’t have to wait until the regular season to play in an actual game this year is a good thing.

Burrow played in both of the Bengals’ first two preseason games last year. In Philadelphia to open the preseason, Burrow was 9-of-10 passing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. A week-and-a-half later against Washington, Burrow engineered a touchdown drive, but before that there was the infamous play where he was running for his life from a Washington pass rush that got free into the Bengals’ backfield.

Perhaps none of that this preseason, please.

The Bengals will play their first two preseason games at home against Detroit next Thursday night and the Chicago Bears on Saturday, August 22nd. The Bengals’ third and final preseason game is at Philadelphia against the Eagles on Friday, August 28th. CBS will nationally televise that game.