Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw 61 passes on Thursday night. None of them went in the direction of receiver Auden Tate.
None went to Tate because Tate was inactive. A healthy scratch. And Tate wasn’t happy about it.
Via Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com, Tate’s agent has sounded off about the limited opportunities for his client, who played only 15 snaps in the Week One loss to the Chargers.
“He was healthy and ready to go,” Deiric Jackson said regarding Tate. “If they don’t know how to use him, I’m sure there are plenty of other teams that would love to have a weapon like that offensively.”
Although Jackson added that Tate doesn’t plan to be a disruption, disruption may happen without any specific plan. Arguably, it already is.
“I don’t care if it’s a first-rounder, whatever, you play your best guys,” Jackson said regarding Tate. “I know the type of chemistry that him and Joe Burrow [have] been having. He’s played special teams. . . . If you’re not going to use him, why not let him go seek opportunities elsewhere?”
Appearing in 12 games with 10 starts in 2019, Tate had 40 catches on 80 targets for 575 yards and a touchdown. He arrived via round seven of the 2018 draft.
Tate appears on the unofficial depth chart as the backup to A.J. Green. However, of seven receivers on the 53-man roster, Tate is the only one who didn’t dress on Thursday night.