Arkansas Bengal Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Bengals trying to teach Vontaze Burfict to play safer (so he can play) Posted by Darin Gantt on October 23, 2014, 5:30 AM EDT AP The Bengals are obviously better on defense when Vontaze Burfict is on the field. But they might want him to play differently in the future, in hopes of actually staying there more often. Burfict’s reckless, head-first style has resulted in him finishing one game this year, between a concussion, last week’s “cervical strain” and other vaguely diagnoses “head injuries.” “He does us no good sitting on the sideline after five snaps every week,” Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said, via Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. “It does us no good. It does us more harm than good. So he’s got to learn how to do [tackle better] for him and the team and everybody involved.” Of course, trying to teach an adult NFL player to do things differently at this stage in his career might be difficult. “I tell him to keep his face up,” Guenther said. “I tell him that he’s my quarterback. Like you need to tell a quarterback to slide and to not get hit, I tell him to keep his head up so he can stay in the game. When he starts the game and he comes out, it affects everything. It affects me, it affects the unit, it affects the linebacking crew. . . . “I’ve said this a million times: He’s my quarterback on the field,” Guenther said of Burfict. “I communicate with him, ‘Hey, tell the corner this.’ And he knows exactly what I’m thinking. Being his [former] position coach, I’ve trained the guy. It’s easier when you have a guy that you’ve trained who can understand that these are the ins and outs of what I’m thinking about. He settles the group down when he’s playing. He brings energy.” They have other injuries at linebacker which complicate things as well, but when he leaves the game, it puts the formation-setting responsibilities on backup Vincent Rey. Guenther’s point is a valid one, and they do need to re-train Burfict to keep him on the field. But much like Marvin Lewis’s tone-deaf remarks about concussions, it almost sounds like the Bengals are as worried about having a valuable employee available to play as much as they are about Burfict’s health and welfare. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/23/bengals-trying-to-teach-vontaze-burfict-to-play-safer-so-he-can-play/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 LOL, that would be like teaching me not to slice a golf ball after consistently doing it for 35 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dautcom08 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Make him start wearing a mouth piece for starters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4u9VDyKkEM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-EkdqjzZpI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCWLbS7hb5I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVkPHXPcV1U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 What I see is a guy playing out of control right now, ...he needs to get back his control. I wonder if that shoulder is still bothering him and he's using his head to make the play. This guy is a warrior, ...he doesn't want to leave the field just for an injury. He takes people down with his shoulder and ankle tackles, ...not his head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Burfict is a byproduct of producing a physical and nasty defensive attitude that has materialized with this franchise since 2008. Marvin Lewis has said numerous times you have to begin the process with bringing in those type of players. Parcells infamously stated if a dog don't bite as a puppy he's probably not gonna bite as a dog. Meaning there are certain things that are hard to teach in regards to tough physical hitting football. As a result there are things that probably can't be coached out of them. Burfict is a dirty player we excuse because he's a Bengal. He uses his head as a weapon. Since the team invested in him with a new contract they need to spend the effort to make getting a return possible but in the future beware because if we continue to build tough defenses and I hope we do these guys can burn themselves out real quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 He resorts to using his head when there is no other option, ...I say he's playing hurt and not telling anyone about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 He resorts to using his head when there is no other option, ...I say he's playing hurt and not telling anyone about it. He is hurt, he keeps getting concussions... oh wait.. Unless he has a serious shoulder issue...scratch that... how does leading with your head cover up an injury? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 You favor that shoulder and use your head because the other shoulder would put you in position to miss the tackle and Burfict is all about making the tackle. Check out the videos, ...Burfict does not use his head, ...he uses his shoulder in both prior seasons and that got him a trip to the probowl. I'm telling you, ...he's favoring that shoulder. I don't think you realize how special this guy is, ...he's family. He has adopted this city and he will run through hells fire, ...for you. Just like Polamalu played with one arm, ...this guy is of that same warrior class. He will play hurt and won't tell anyone. Lets talk about the dirty play of the Panthers team and why he got so pissed off to retaliate. Our players are above that but not us, ...we can talk about it all day long, ...the Panthers are a dirty team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThurmanMunster Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 He is hurt, he keeps getting concussions... oh wait.. Unless he has a serious shoulder issue...scratch that... how does leading with your head cover up an injury? he's had a total of 1 concussion. that doesn't constitute he keeps getting concussions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 I think when the guy gets the chance to smoke a QB he's lowering the target zone and his head (I assume as a weapon). He's gotten hurt hitting Flacco and Luck. Not sure about Carolina. Some of those highlights it looks like he lowers the head when hitting QBs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 he's had a total of 1 concussion. that doesn't constitute he keeps getting concussions. Sure, its only been one concussion...wink wink, nod, nod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 Sure, its only been one concussion...wink wink, nod, nod. The rest were only "concussion-like symptoms". What else causes those besides, um.. concussions? :thwack1: "independent neurologist" :pointlaff: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 The rest were only "concussion-like symptoms". What else causes those besides, um.. concussions? :thwack1: "independent neurologist" :pointlaff: The guy was almost staggering off the field after a tackle yet after the half, he comes back in. Granted, in the old days this was expected but damn, the Bengals are playing with fire doing something like that in today's litigious environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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