"Sick to your stomach" - Ryan Clark calls out Bengals defense for wasting Joe Burrow’s prime years

Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow is viewed as one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. Most fans and analysts put him in the same category as the other top QBs of his generation, like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. However, Burrow and Co. have struggled the past few seasons.

The Bengals have missed the playoffs two years in a row, but that fault does not land on Burrow. In 2024, they had the best passing offense in the league with 4918 passing yards. However, the defense was a letdown, ranking near the bottom of the league in several categories.

Analyst Ryan Clark spoke about this on "Get Up" on Tuesday morning.

"Absolutely, I mean, if you watch that game last night, and you think about, especially early on last season, we've watched people run for more miles against the Cincinnati Bengals than David Goggins. The Bengals are trying to figure out a way to capitalize on having one of the best quarterbacks of this generation. So, what they did in the offseason was re-sign Tee Higgins, re-sign Jamar Chase.

"But now you're looking at a defense that hasn't improved. Not only has it not improved but you haven't signed your best player and one of the few impact players you had on that side of the football. If you're Joe Burrow, the reason you're out here in the preseason is because you know you have to score 40."

Ryan Clark continued to discuss the team's poor roster construction and why it should upset Joe Burrow.

"When you watch this in the preseason, you have to be sick to your stomach because you know there's gonna be some games where you sit in the post-game press conference where you score 35, 38, maybe 41, and you still catch an L."

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.@Realrclark25 is concerned the Bengals are "wasting this stage of Joe Burrow's career" 😯

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The Cincinnati Bengals in contract standoff with defensive star Trey Hendrickson

Part of why Ryan Clark expressed frustration with the Cincinnati Bengals is because of their contract dispute with defensive end Trey Hendrickson, one of their biggest defensive stars. The sticking point for the standoff appears to be guaranteed money in an extension.

While the four-time Pro Bowler is under contract this season, he held out until July 30 before showing up to training camp. However, he has not participated in practice.

Ryan Clark has expressed that without Hendrickson, the defense will get even worse. As a result, there is a risk that the team will further waste the generational talent that is Joe Burrow.