Stephen A. Smith went scorched earth on Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor over his Joe Burrow Decision.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith went off on Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor over a decision involving quarterback Joe Burrow.

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan is trying to use his experience with Joe Burrow to help him develop Cam Ward.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bengals Coach Justifies Decision to Keep Joe Burrow in Preseason Game After Bad Sack. The Bengals notched a 31-17 win against the Commanders in Monday's preseason game, a mostly meaningless victory that could have ended much worse for Cincinnati.

Burrow’s preference comes through in the answer. It’s “great” to get the deals done early, like the Bengals did with Higgins and Chase. And while the NFL is a deadline-driven business, the deadline when a player is holding in shouldn’t be Week 1. It should be tied to the practical deadline for getting the player ready to go for Week 1.

Those in favor of their quarterbacks playing limited to zero snaps in the preseason can just point to this one Joe Burrow play to defend their logic.

CINCINNATI — The Bengals sport arguably the best quarterback in the preseason so far. Warren Sharp crunched the numbers following Week 2 of the preseason, and Joe Burrow is near the top of most major metrics.

The quarterback played 24 snaps in Monday's win over the Commanders, expressing satisfaction with protection and Cincinnati's efficient running game.

CINCINNATI — Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson's hold-in continues. He hasn't participated in training camp practices, but has been with the team and was in Landover, Maryland for Cincinnati's matchup against the Washington Commanders.