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Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow optimistic at training camp.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow looked absolutely miserable at times last season, which tends to happen when your team found ways to lose six games where you put up 25+ points as an offense. Then you miss the playoffs by one game and think back to that moribund Week 1 loss at home to the New England Patriots.
You might sound a little morose in your post-game pressers too.
But, Burrow seems much more upbeat at training camp this year (even if he’s not, he’s doing a decent job of faking it). He feels like the team looks good and so far he feels positive.
“I’m really happy with how everybody is looking,” Burrow said on Good Morning Football on NFL Network Thursday. “We’re competing every day. The defense has been high energy and we’re making plays on offense like we always do.”
And if Burrow wasn’t scary-good last year when he threw for 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns and just nine picks, he says he’s throwing the ball now better than he ever has.
“I think this is the best I’m throwing it in several years, so I’m excited about that,” Burrow said. “Excited about where our team’s at, too.”
Joe Burrow feels better about a lot so far
This is probably the healthiest Burrow has been in training camp in years. As Ben Baby of ESPN writes, he’s had some sort of issue going back all the way to 2020.
“Even though the Bengals have practiced for just a week, this is the best stretch of health Burrow has enjoyed in training camp since 2020, which was significantly altered by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Baby writes. “Whether it’s been recovery from an ACL injury (2021), an emergency appendectomy (2022), a strained calf (2023) or the aforementioned wrist (2024), Burrow has spent camp dealing with something.”
Aside from just being healthier this year, he also sounds more optimistic about the team so far. Specifically, he was asked on NFL Network about the defense.
“D.J. [Turner] had a great day, all the DB’s have taken turns having great days,” Burrow said. “They’re working hard on their installs and making it hard on us.”
And, Burrow says he’s fine with the defense making plays in practice, he thinks that’s a good thing.
“I’m never going to be upset at a 7-on-7 interception unless I completely miss the read or make a completely inaccurate throw and not throwing it where I’m trying to throw it,” Burrow said.
That’s good news for a defense that ranked 25th in the NFL last year both in yards and points given up. And any praise for the secondary is a good thing when Mike Clay of ESPN just said the secondary was the worst unit on the entire team.
Burrow has tried to help with Bengals’ contracts
It almost always seems to be the case that the Bengals are dealing with some sort of contract standoff with a player(s). This has to be incredibly frustrating for Burrow, who more than holds up his end of the bargain. He knows it’s in his best interests to get as many good players out onto the field as possible.
“I just think the job of a quarterback is to be the conduit between ownership, head coach and the locker room,” Burrow said Thursday. “I feel like I have information from the locker room being down there everyday that doesn’t always get relayed upstairs. You know we have great relationships. The more information that I can pass on the better.”
It’s not known if he’s been pitching a fit about the Trey Hendrickson saga, but it’s safe to say he’s not happy about it. Joe Burrow just wants a defense for crying out loud!
Micah Warren Micah Warren has been covering the NFL – and sports in general – for more than 20 years and he began writing for Heavy in 2025. His work has been featured in Yahoo!, MSN.com, Forbes, Off the Record, GCobb.com, Blast Magazine and other sports and non-sports-related outlets. Micah also co-hosts “The Philly Pulse” podcast. More about Micah Warren
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