Cincinnati Bengals: It’s Vontaze Burfict Just Being Burfict
By Emile Pierce
With his season debut, Vontaze Burfict showed how much of an impact he can be. But, does his return also mean it’s time for trash talk?
Bengals WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict can’t get a break. In his first official week back from suspension, he’s already being singled out for something. Week 5 action will feature the Bengals battling the Dallas Cowboys. Per the Dayton Daily News, Mr. Burfict dissed one of Dem Boyz. Tez acted as if he hadn’t heard of the player.
When Burfict answered questions about Dak Prescott, the responses were somewhat entertaining. The exchange was as follows:
“How much do you know about Dak Prescott?”
“Who?”
“Dak Prescott.”
Once again, Burfict responded like an owl (any commercials come to mind?). Vontaze laughed the incident off and went on to explain his actual feelings about the Cowboys signal-caller.
"“No, I’m just playing. He’s a great quarterback. I was a fan of him in college. I watched a lot of their games in college. He makes good decisions. We’re going to have a tough task in front of us. We want him to stay in the pocket and not let him get out and obviously pat the ball a lot and make bad decisions back there.” More from Bengals News6 Bengals whose stock significantly rose in preseason game vs Cardinals7 winners and 7 losers from Bengals preseason opener vs. CardinalsJackson Carman winning LG job isn’t a given after Bengals preseason openerDenzel Ward wants to flex on Bengals WRs in 2022Scouting the enemy: Bengals preseason opener chat with Raising Zona"
Did Tez toss a little shade on the Cowboys? Let’s just say this…Burfict was being Burfict. The one thing the Bengals defense lacked—before the return of No. 55—was attitude. They played their hearts out but still came up short. Attitude and passion can help bridge the gap between talent and an average performance.
My man Burfict puts the “tude” in attitude.
Role Model?
Actually, his answers could be taken either way. But, what’s football without just a teeny bit of trash talk? As long as the trash remains off the field, Burfict should be fine. In fact, it’s just an early attempt to get things fired up between the Bengals and Dem Boyz. The bottom line? If a defensive player isn’t confident in his abilities…it’s time to look at the backups for emotional leadership.
In his first game back, Burfict was the model citizen. He looked like the poster boy for handshakes across America. After vigorously denying a pass intended for Jarvis Landry, he politely smacked hands with…Landry. Huh? That doesn’t seem like a player looking for trouble. But wait…was that intimidating?
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In the following days, Burfict’s statements will probably be taken out of context. Nothing will be said of his glowing statements about the Cowboys O-line or his praise of Ezekiel Elliott. But, there’ll be tons of things mentioned about the “shade” showered on Prescott.
It’s football, it’s trash talk, and it’s downright entertaining. It’s also some insight from one of the NFL’s smartest linebackers. In this election…vote Burfict.