NFL teams
Ben Baby, ESPN Staff Writer 3y

Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow to make preseason debut, eight months after knee surgery

NFL, Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will make his preseason debut this Sunday.

Burrow is expected to get a limited number of snaps against the Miami Dolphins, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Wednesday. The No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft missed the first two exhibition games while he continued to recover from left knee surgery last December.

"We gotta do what's best for Joe, what's best for the team," Taylor said. "We felt like this is what fits best."

Burrow was cleared for football activities in July. Before the team's training camp started, Taylor and team president Mike Brown initially indicated Burrow was not going to play in the preseason. In his media interviews during training camp, Burrow continually expressed the desire to get some snaps before the team's Week 1 opener against Minnesota. Taylor said Burrow's lobbying didn't play a role in the decision to have him play against Miami, which also happens to be the only preseason game at Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium.

"It's important going into this last preseason game to be as close as you can to having a game-like feel," Burrow said after Wednesday's practice. "I'm going to be in the huddle Game 1, so I need to be out there for the first play of this game."

Taylor said the plan for Burrow to face the Dolphins wasn't new information for the second-year quarterback.

"I probably told him a couple of weeks ago that this was an option, and he probably knew more recently that it was a reality," Taylor said.

The Bengals' third-year coach said Burrow's usage will be "very limited" as the team continues to take precautions before the start of the regular season.

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