Jermaine Burton debunks strange accusation after falling down Bengals depth chart

The Cincinnati Bengals spent a third-round pick on Jermaine Burton out of Alabama with the hope that he'd replace Tyler Boyd in the offense. Burton had a nice 2023 campaign with the Crimson Tide, compiling 798 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. That being said, he was considered a reach having gone in the third round despite being tabbed as a fifth-rounder ahead of the draft.

Either way, Burton won't be starting for the Bengals in 2024, at least not initially. Andrei Iosivas won the WR3 job over Burton, which was a bit of a surprise considering the strong preseason the third-round rookie put together.

Things did get a little weird this past week though. During the preseason finale against the Colts, Burton caught a pass from Logan Woodside. This prompted Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels to discuss Burton and his mindset. Herbstreit mentioned how he's unsure of if Burton has bought into the system to which Michaels responded, "Yeah, don't sleep through meetings, right?"

The comment naturally stood out because it felt like a strange thing to say in the moment. Was Michaels trying to be funny or did he have some insider information about Burton falling asleep during Bengals meetings?

Sports Illustrated followed up with Burton about the comments made during the broadcast and the rookie said he had no idea what Michaels was talking about.

"I don’t even know. I don’t know where that came from. I was confused myself.” He mentioned that he was unaware of what Michaels had said until his mother brought the comments to his attention.

Jermaine Burton denies that he sleeps through team meetings

Burton was quick to defend himself here but why then, after a strong preseason and being a third-round pick, are the Bengals not putting him in the WR3 position? Is there maybe some truth to what Herbstreit and Michaels were talking about on the broadcast?

A rookie looking to make a good impression in the league probably wouldn't want to admit he was sleeping during team meetings but the easier way to avoid that is to, you know, not sleep during team meetings. We might never get real clarity on this situation and might just have to take Burton's word for it.