Zac Taylor Explains Why Joe Burrow Will Continue Starting for 4-10 Bengals

Cincinnati is officially eliminated from playoff contention, but the team doesn’t plan to shut Burrow down for the year.

The Bengals plan to continue starting Joe Burrow to finish out the 2025 season. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bengals were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday after the Ravens shut them out 24–0. This extremely tough loss came just days after quarterback Joe Burrow said some pretty cryptic things about his future in the NFL and in Cincinnati.

Despite these two factors looming over the Bengals in the last three weeks of the season, the team plans to continue starting Burrow, coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Monday. He gave a simple reason why.

“Because we want to win,” Taylor said.

Burrow wants to win, too, as he made that clear in his now viral comments shared last week regarding his team. The quarterback clarified on Sunday that the comments were made specifically about him and his football mindset, not about his future in Cincinnati. We’ll see what the offseason brings.

The Bengals are now 3–2 when Burrow’s started this season. He missed two months because of a turf toe injury he suffered in September that required surgery. He returned to the field much earlier than people expected, but it wasn’t enough to help the Bengals keep their playoff hopes alive. The team only won one game in his absence.

There is, of course, now going to be injury concern regarding Burrow since the team still plans to start him when the games won’t help them in the long run. Burrow himself shared last month that he doesn’t want to play football being worried about getting injured, so maybe the team took on this mindset as well.

Cincinnati will face the Dolphins, Cardinals and Browns to finish out the 2025 season. We’ll see if the Bengals and Burrow can post a few more wins before the offseason creeps up.

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