Referee Congratulates Joe Burrow After Preseason Touchdown Pass

Bill Vinovich must have been happy to see Joe Burrow after a long summer.

Joe Burrow got a pat on the helmet from referee Bill Vinovich after throwing a preseason touchdown pass. | @NF

Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and a number of other key Bengals started the team's first preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday night. Burrow and Chase were out there in an effort to try and avoid a slow start once the regular season begins.

Burrow certainly did that, completing nine of ten passes for 123 yards and two touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game. Chase caught four passes for 77 yards and one of those touchdowns on a quick pass to the sideline where he avoided the tackle and ran it in untouched.

Joe Burrow. Ja'Marr Chase. Easy Bengals TD.

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It was such a nice play that even referee Bill Vinovich congratulated Burrow by patting him on the helmet.

Vinovich was most recently the crew chief at Super Bowl LVIII, but also made headlines last postseason for having a special one-on-one conversation with Josh Allen during a Buffalo Bills wild card game. Obviously, he makes it a point to have a special relationship with the league's best quarterbacks.

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