Jacob Burney remaining with Bengals as defensive line coach

The Cincinnati Bengals are keeping defensive line coach Jacob Burney, according to his agent.

Burney who just finished his 23d NFL season, worked with Washington from 2010-14 prior to joining Cincinnati in 2016. This past season, Burney helped the Bengals’ defense rack up 41 sacks, the 11th-most in the NFL. 34.5 of those came from defensive lineman, as this was easily one of, if not the Bengals’ biggest strength in the 2017 season.

Burney is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee and he was a three-time All-Southern selection at Tennessee-Chattanooga during his college football career. He later coached 11 seasons in college before entering the NFL as defensive line coach with the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick in 1994.

Prior to joining Washington in 2010, Burney also had NFL defensive line coaching jobs with the Carolina Panthers (1999-2001) and Denver Broncos (2002-08).

During Burney’s seven seasons in Denver, the Broncos ranked in the NFL’s top five rush defenses three times. During his full Denver tenure, the Broncos ranked 10th in fewest total defensive yards allowed.

The Bengals have now retained Burney, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons and tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes from last year’s staff. They’ve also added wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.