Rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton was a healthy scratch for the Cincinnati Bengals during Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders as a disciplinary measure, and a recent photo of Burton at a casino is just adding to the bad publicity he has received this weekend.
According to a report from James Rapien of Sports Illustrated, Jermaine Burton was inactive on Sunday for missing the team’s walk-through on Saturday even though the team had built its gameplan around him with Tee Higgins out with an injury.
“Burton was a no call, no show for Saturday’s walkthrough according to multiple league sources,” Rapien reported for SI. “They built their game plan around him this week with Tee Higgins nursing a quad injury.”
Bengals coach Zach Taylor addressed the situation after the game.
“Jermaine was a big part of the plan, and as the week unfolded there were a lot of positive things people were saying about him,” Taylor said according to Pro Football Talk.
“It was all true, and then late in the week we’ve just got to handle all of our business the right way. I can sit here and say it was a difficult decision to make him inactive, but it was absolutely the right decision with all the information we had. He’s a guy who’s going to have, I think, a really good career here, and we’re going to support him. He wants to help us win and do things the right way. Today was just a necessary step we had to make, but we’re going to get him back in the fold and keep him moving along and becoming a pro. There’s a lot of things to love about Jermaine, so his best days are in front of him and we’re going to make sure he achieves that.”
While that certainly is not a good look for Burton, it only got worse from there as a photo emerged on social media appearing to show Burton alone at a casino playing a slot machine.
Burton what you doin pic.twitter.com/f4nMrWK0J2
— Joe Burrow Fan Club (@JoeyBClub) November 4, 2024
It’s not clear when the photo was taken, but as fans pointed out on social media, the photo does certainly appear to be Burton.
The tattoo on his right hand in the photo matches his tattoo and he appears to be wearing the same sweatshirt he wore on the sideline during the game on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, it is definitely the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati.
It’s worth noting that it is not illegal or a violation of NFL rules for Burton to be playing slot machines on his own time.
However, this is still not a great look for a player who is already in the doghouse with the team and fans.
