The commentary surrounding all that only got worse when Burrow played one of the worst games of his six-year NFL career in a 24-0 loss to the Ravens at home Sunday.
Burrow set the record straight this week. No, he does not plan to pull an Andrew Luck and retire at age 29 due to a myriad of injuries suffered throughout his career, and no, he doesn’t want out of Cincinnati. At least not yet.
“My comments had nothing to do with Cincinnati,” Burrow said after the loss to the Ravens. “My comments had everything to do with me and my mindset in football.”
Burrow has shared that injuries have impacted his mindset, but while he noted last week that his struggles to stay healthy haven’t changed his desire to win, he wants to have fun “if” he wants “to keep doing this.”
That’s what led national media and fans to question his future and whether he’s thought about not playing anymore.
“You think about all different possibilities that could happen,” Burrow said Wednesday in response to that. “I’m going to be playing for a long time. I expect to play for a long time and I expect to play well and consistently great for a long time.”
Burrow said he “can’t see” a world where he would not be a Bengal next year, but when asked if he ever thinks about a time in his career when he might not be with Cincinnati, he simply said he thinks about a lot of things.
Tom Brady spent 20 years with New England before finishing his career in Tampa Bay. Peyton Manning played for Indianapolis for 13 years and wrapped up with the Denver Broncos for four seasons.
“A lot of crazy things happen every year,” Burrow said. “…Crazy things can happen.”
As the Bengals miss the playoffs for a third straight year, there’s a sentiment outside the building that the organization is wasting Burrow’s prime. That would be a concern if Burrow believed that, but he said he doesn’t accept the premise he’s reached his prime.
Burrow said he just needs to figure out a way to stay healthy so he can make an impact. After leading the Bengals to back-to-back AFC North titles in 2021 and 2022, along with a Super Bowl and second-straight AFC Championship appearance, Burrow suffered a season-ending injury in 2023, bounced back with an NFL Comeback Player of the Year campaign last year but still missed the postseason and was sidelined for nine games this season due to turf toe surgery.
“Obviously, we haven’t been where we want to be the last three years,” Burrow said. “A big part of that is injuries on my end. I played one full season (during the three years). I played four games this year. It’s hard to make an impact on a season when you’ve played four games. I need to figure out a way to be available for everybody here. As far as what I can control, that’s something that is top-of-mind for me.”
Cincinnati isn’t far off from being a championship contender again, according to Burrow, but he said changes need to be made in how the Bengals do things. The organization is unlikely to make major personnel changes this offseason, but Burrow continues to back the coaching staff anyway.
Burrow said the team has “great coaches” who consistently put the players in positions to make plays and do their best. He didn’t specify what changes he thinks are necessary.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“I have a lot of confidence in everybody that’s putting together the plans for us week in and week out,” Burrow said. “That’s not to say that changes don’t need to be made. I’m not saying personnel or people. I’m just saying what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked the last couple of years. We have to think outside the box and get creative about where we go from here.”
In the meantime, Burrow still wants to win. He said he blocks outside noise suggesting the Bengals should play backups to get a better draft position and to protect Burrow from injury risk. The last three games aren’t meaningless to Burrow, though, and he’s anxious to get back on track with his own performance Sunday at Miami.
“I like playing football, for the same reasons that I wanted to push to come back from injury,” Burrow said. “Same reasons I want play this week. It feels like everybody’s trying to do everything in their power to make me not play football and I feel like I’m fighting it. I’m fighting everybody else. I just want to play ball. That’s all I want to do.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Miami
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Streaming: CBS, Paramount
Radio: 700-AM, 104.7-FM
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