Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton has been accused of assaulting his girlfriend, although no charges have been filed.
According to Sharon Coolidge, Cameron Knight, and Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati police reports show that an assault was reported on December 30 involving Burton. The writeup includes details found on a recording of a 911 call and two reports after a public records request.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals issued this statement on the topic: “We are aware of information related to Jermaine Burton. We will continue to evaluate as we gather additional details and will have no further comment at this time.”
Before Cincinnati’s Week 18 season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals announced Burton wasn’t permitted to travel with the team, but didn’t say why. Conway reported that weekend that Burton had also been served an eviction notice.
Red flags that caused Burton to fall to the third round of the draft chased him into the season, where he struggled to get up to speed. When Tee Higgins missed time in November and the rookie was a big part of a gameplan for the first time, Burton got in hot water for reportedly no-showing a Saturday walkthrough, to the point teammates sent public messages his way after team discipline. He was just starting to become a core member of the special teams unit before the Week 18 setback.