The reality of playing a franchise quarterback in the preseason entails the risk of the quarterback getting hit.On Thursday night, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow got hit after left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. was beaten around the edge.Meeting with reporters on Saturday, Bengals coach Zac Taylor defended Brown, who's entering the final year of a four-year, $64 million deal that he signed in 2023."I think he's motivated to give us the best version of himself," Taylor said, via Zach Pressnell of SI.com. "He's been a strong leader on this team. And I think anytime something doesn't go perfectly, he wears it and takes ownership for it. I think anytime Joe gets hit, all those guys are trying to figure out what they can do better. And we all are. None of us want to be in that position. And there's things that we can always do to help those guys work."Preseason or regular season, Burrow's ability to play every game is critical to the Bengals' prospects. They've missed the playoffs for the last three seasons. If the streak runs to four, things could get very dicey for Taylor in Cincinnati.