The Cincinnati Bengals are ready to go on a revenge tour in 2024. Cincinnati's 2023 season ended prematurely when Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11. Now he is healthy and the roster is reloaded and ready for a deep playoff run.
Cincinnati will play Chicago in their next preseason game. Joe Burrow had a chance to share some wisdom about the NFL with Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams earlier this week.
“What you don’t realize at the beginning is how long the season is,” Burrow said, per the Chicago Tribune. “You grow and you learn as time goes by with how to maintain your body and maintain your mind for those tough times. Because from Week 11 to 15, it’s really a grind.”
Burrow gave Williams some notes on staying healthy.
“You only get one bye week,” Burrow continued. “My last year in college, we had 12 games and two bye weeks. So the (NFL) season is a grind. But you learn from every rep. And as long as you grow and you learn and you have great coaches, then you’re all right.”
Burrow also made it clear that being open to coaching and growing as a player is hugely important.
“That’s what separates people,” Burrow said. “It’s when you can maintain a levelheaded, even-keel aura or whatever you want to call it. There are going to be ups and downs. But can you come back the next day and go about your process the same way you did the week before? Whether you won or whether you lost. Whether you threw four picks or you had five touchdowns. You just have to have the mindset at the end of the day that you’re going to be better.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow debates losing Super Bowl vs. not playing in one ever again
Joe Burrow has been hungry for another trip to the Super Bowl since 2021.
Burrow recently appeared on The Pivot Podcast and was asked a pivotal Super Bowl question. Would you rather never return to the Super Bowl, or go back and lose it again?
His answer might surprise you.
“Probably not make it, I would say that loss, it gets harder as time goes by. Because right after it happens, you know 2021, we thought we were going to be good, but we weren’t sure we had the fifth pick the year before and all of a sudden we started balling at the end of the year” Burrow said. “We were 5-4 at the bye and scratching and clawing for a playoff spot, and then all off a sudden we start balling at the end of the year and find ourselves in the Super Bowl…So then you know it starts to get harder, but every year is a new year, and we’re going to go out and attack it.”
It is an interesting question because you rarely hear NFL QBs say that they don't want to win a game. When the question is posed with the guarantee that he lose the Super Bowl, Burrow is not interested in even competing in the game. That might be the smartest approach when faced with a futile effort.
Hopefully the Bengals can finally realize their dream of winning Burrow's first Lombardi Trophy later this fall.