Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton’s rookie season was a bust, but the team is hopeful that Year Two can be better according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

Burton was a third-round pick, but only caught four passes during a year that saw him get benched multiple times due to coaching decisions. One of those benchings came in Week 18 when he did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh in the wake of an assault accusation.

Director of player personnel Duke Tobin was blunt in January when he said Burton has done nothing to deserve a spot on the roster, but head coach Zac Taylor gave a more positive review of Burton’s offseason when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.

“All he can handle is the present at this point,” Taylor said. “I think he’s done a good job of that this offseason. He’s been in the building. He’s in the building outside of work hours, doing his own thing, prehabbing to get his body right. He has attacked practice the right way, and that is what you can control right now, so I appreciate that much.”

Hopefully Taylor's positive assessment turns out to be accurate.  Otherwise, it would not take much more for Burton to play his way out of the league.