This happened before Burton was a late scratch for the Bengals’ Week 18 game vs. the Steelers.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton had a tough rookie year, to say the least. Burton fell to the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft amid character concerns. While his talent was never in question, teams were warned of character issues from his time with Georgia and Alabama.
The Bengals took a chance on Burton and so far, it has not paid off. Burton was a healthy scratch twice this season, including the regular season finale. Both times on the inactive list were due to a coach’s decision.
Earlier in the season, reports were that Burton missed a walkthrough, leading to a healthy scratch against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wednesday, troubling reports about an alleged assault from a 19-year-old woman Burton was dating surfaced, and that is likely why he didn’t travel with the team to finish the season.
The Enquirer reports that the alleged assault took place on the morning of December 30th.
The report shows that this is a woman Burton had been dating on and off since September.
The two had been out together and argued before the incident in the woman’s Oakley neighborhood apartment, reports show. After the night out, police were called and the woman said Burton met her at her apartment, chased her inside, damaged her phone and assaulted her, including choking her. The caller said before leaving, Burton held a knife to his neck and threatened to kill himself.
Burton has not publicly commented on the situation but did post a cryptic Instagram story shortly after it was announced he wouldn’t travel to Pittsburgh. The post was a photo of him with the words, “*lies*. Stop hitting my phone.”
No charges were filed after the incident. The Bengals told The Enquirer they were aware of the situation but declined to comment.
Due to the graphic nature of this report, we will be closing the comments for this story.
