Zac Taylor Defends Bengals' Offensive Line After Joe Burrow Injury

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor defended the offensive line on Sunday

CINCINNATI — Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow left Sunday's game against Washington with a season-ending knee injury.

The 23-year-old suffered a torn left ACL. He will undergo an MRI to confirm the injury and to see if there is any other damage to his knee.

The Bengals' offensive line has and will continue to take criticism following Sunday's game. 

Burrow was sacked 32 times going into Week 11. The Bengals allowed 3.6 sacks-per-game in the first 10 weeks of the season, which was 31st in the NFL. 

Burrow entered Sunday's game tied with Daniel Jones for the most hits taken (72) by a quarterback in his first nine games (since 2000). 

Despite the hits and the pressure that opposing defenses have applied on the Bengals this season, head coach Zac Taylor defended his offensive line and pushed back at the idea that they've done a poor job of protecting Burrow.

“It's hard for me because all we can do is make progress as this season goes and we gave up a lot of pressure early in the season. In these last couple weeks, our guys have done a great job of keeping people off Joe, he's had a great pocket," Taylor said after the game. "He did not have a sack in the first half. And the hit as I saw it, wasn’t when he had the ball in his hand. And people keep talking about the offensive line without it seemingly watching the film from last four weeks. And so, again, those guys have done a good job. It's been a revolving door of players; we're doing a great job. Joe's done a good job moving us down the field, and we felt like we're making a lot of progress over the last five weeks, and we're not going to apologize for any of that.” 

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Maybe the injury would've happened regardless of who was in front of Burrow, but the entire world knew the Bengals' offensive line was an issue before the season started. The Bengals have struggled in the trenches since 2016. 

Acknowledging the problem is the first step. The team has no choice but to heavily invest into their offensive line this offseason. 

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