Bengals Beat: Comeback Joe Burrow ‘Excited About Chances’ Of Returning Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson

The biggest comeback Joe Burrow wants is those of his teammates.

Burrow made more history Thursday night, capturing his second career AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year honor. Burrow earned 31 first-place votes and 370 total points to beat out Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins (195 points), Vikings QB Sam Darnold (102), Bills safety Damar Hamlin (86) and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (69) for the honor.

Joe Burrow had a career-best statistical season that made him the most logical choice for the award, overcoming right wrist surgery in Nov. 2023. He aggressively rehabilitated the wrist and finished with 4,918 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns, numbers that led the NFL in 2024.

Burrow also earned the honor in 2021 after returning from a torn ACL that ended his rookie season of 2020. In ’21, Burrow led the Bengals to the franchise’s third Super Bowl appearance. The 28-year-old star QB earned his second Pro Bowl trip in 2024 and joined Chad Pennington (2006, ’08) as the only players to win the award twice.

But Burrow’s biggest news-making efforts at the Super Bowl in New Orleans came on radio row and on the national media circuit down on Bourbon Street.

He re-iterated his desire to see stars Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson return to a roster that most feel needs not only their return but significant tweaking to make it back to the Super Bowl. Hours before listening to Snoop Dog roast Joe Burrow’s defense and accepting the Comeback Player of the Year honor, Burrow spoke with Kay Adams of UpAndAdams on Fan Duel, repeating his mission to keep the stars on the team for another Super Bowl run.

“We Ja’Marr, Trey, Mike G(esicki), we have guys that want to play together, and so we’re going to find a way to make that work,” Burrow said. “I know our organization wants to make it happen to guys want to get paid what they’re worth. But at the same time, I know that how important it is to keep great players together, and so I’m going to do what it takes. I know they will, too, and hopefully our organization does what it takes to keep everybody around.”

When Adams suggested he was injecting himself in the Tee Higgins conversations with the team, Burrow clapped back a bit, saying it’s much more nuanced than that.

“Not sure I would say injecting myself. I think part of the job of being a quarterback of an organization is figuring out ways to make the team better, and you want to be collaborative with the front office to to make the team as good as you can,” Burrow added. “So, I’m taking that to heart. I know based on conversations with that I’ve had with with our players, they want to be here, and they want to do what it takes to be here, too. So we’ll see what ends up happening. But I’m excited about our chances.”

Burrow’s season was historic on many levels. But it’s the team goal that he wants. He told Adams that the last time he was truly “satisfied” on the field came in 2019 when he won the National Championship with LSU in New Orleans. He said winning that first Super Bowl would quench that thirst that has been building for six years.

In addition to his league-leading numbers in passing yards and touchdowns in 2024, Burrow finished with the NFL’s third-best passer rating (108.5) and ranked fourth in completion percentage (70.6).

Per NFL Media, Burrow became the third QB in NFL history to have at least 4,500 passing yards and 40 passing TDs while throwing fewer than 10 interceptions, joining Tom Brady (2007) and Aaron Rodgers (2011), who were both rewarded with the AP Most Valuable Player award in those respective seasons.

Burrow was also a finalist for the AP’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2024.

Burrow set an NFL record with eight straight games with 250-plus passing yards and three-plus passing TDs, breaking a record once held by Tom Brady (6 in 2007). Cincinnati went 6-3 during that stretch, including a five-game win streak to end the season, but its 1-4 start in 2024 proved too much to overcome. Only Dan Marino had more passing TDs (44) for a team that missed the playoffs in NFL history.

Burrow, who broke his own single-season franchise records in passing yards and TDs in 2024, drove the season that powered Ja’Marr Chase’s triple crown season. With Burrow throwing, Chase caught 127 passes for 1,708 yards and scored 17 TDs, while also setting the franchise’s single-season marks in receiving yards and TDs, and tied Carl Pickens for the club record in receiving touchdowns in a single season.