Vontaze Burfict Injury Update: Bengals LB Out for Week 17 vs. Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict missed Week 16's game against the Houston Texans due to a concussion and will sit out the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Bengals announced Burfict is inactive for the AFC North showdown after Bob Holtzman of ESPN.com, citing a team source, reported on Dec. 29 Burfict would not play. 

Burfict, 26, suffered a concussion in Week 15's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was then placed in the league's concussion protocol, which requires an independent neurologist to clear a player before he can return.

After playing 16 games in each of his first two seasons, Burfict has been sidelined by injuries each of the last three. His total of 11 games played in 2016 is his highest since 2013, but he missed the first three games of the season due to a suspension. He was limited to 15 games combined in 2014 and 2015.

The former Arizona State star is perhaps the most polarizing Bengal due to his style of play. He's been suspended and fined multiple times for illegal hits, and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said this week some Cincinnati players have grown tired of Burfict's act.

"I don't know what he's [Marvin Lewis] able and capable of doing. Maybe he's tried, maybe he hasn't, I don't really know, I can't speak for what they do over there...I know some of their players they just can't stand it and I know if it was on our team, we'd have to have a talk," Roethlisberger said on his radio show, per CBS Pittsburgh.

Burfict has only one year remaining on his contract with minimal guarantees, so it's at least possible the Bengals will reconsider his status with the team this offseason.