Bengals Beat: Joe Burrow ‘I’ll Never Step Foot On The Field When I Don’t Think We Can Win’

CINCINNATI — If you think Joe Burrow worries about re-injuring himself, you don’t know Joe Burrow.

And you certainly haven’t been paying attention to the work ethic of one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the game or – as Zac Taylor calls him – the best quarterback on the planet.

Burrow will do anything to return to the game he loves, and shatter timetables for a recovery.

He did that in getting cleared by doctors to start Sunday against the Patriots but was held out when Zac Taylor didn’t like the general body soreness Burrow was experiencing after full practices last week. But as Burrow pointed out Tuesday, it wasn’t the toe that was bothering him, rather just being out on the field going through full activities for the first time in 11 weeks.

Could the Bengals have used him against the Patriots? Certainly. But that is water under the bridge at this point following the 26-20 loss that dropped them to 3-8 on the season.

So when did Burrow make up his mind that he was going to come back regardless of the team’s record?

“As soon as it happened, I was pushing to do everything that we could to try and get back on the field. I’m a football player. I get paid a lot money to go and play a game with my friends and we work really hard,” Burrow told me. “It’s intense and there’s jobs on the line, but at the end of the day, it’s a game and I’ve worked hard to put myself in this position and get as healthy as I can be to go out and play with these guys and that’s something I wanted to do.”

In other words, Burrow holds dear every chance to win NFL games, even if the team is 3-8. That is just how he’s wired.

Burrow said he appreciates fans who are concerned for his long-term well-being and his career in Cincinnati. But that’s not going to keep him from going out and playing if he feels he can help his team win, a team that is paying him $55 million annually to win games.

“I understand why people feel that way, but you look at it from my perspective, I’m a football player and if I get hurt, I’m going to go through the rehab process and then I’m going to let everyone know when I feel like I can go out there and play,” Burrow explained. “I don’t really know what else to say about that. I’m not ever going to go to somebody and say, “Yea, I’m healthy, but I don’t think I should go out there and play.’ That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening. Like, yea, something is going to happen, it’s football. Guys are going to get hurt, guys are going to get concussions, you’re going to break bones, tear ligaments, it’s a physical, intense game. That’s part of this. Yeah, I’ve had injuries, there’s not a lot I can do about that. I worked really hard to have that not happen, but what I can do is when it does happen, I can control how I’m attacking my rehab and attacking practice and doing everything in my power to get back as quickly as possible and that’s what I did.”

The challenge this week is to attack the healthier and improved Ravens defense since a 1-5 start. Burrow had last week to get up to speed with the Wednesday and Thursday full practices before this week’s condensed workouts on a shortened week.

“Yeah, certainly a different mental space you have to be in throughout the week to prepare the way you need to go out and play great,” Burrow said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get two full weeks of practice before I went out there and performed. We were going to move up that timeline, and then obviously, didn’t end up playing last week, but preparing that whole week like I was going to play, I think, putting yourself in that mental state to get back into the swing things. It’s an intense place to be at times. So I’m glad I had that week to feel that before Thursday.

“Yeah, I think anytime any of us step foot on the field, we are confident that we can go and beat whoever. I’ll never step foot on the field when I don’t think we can win, when I don’t think that I can go out play great, put us in a position to win. The second that happens, then I shouldn’t be playing anymore. So, I’m always confident in myself and my teammates for sure.”

Another big part of Burrow putting himself in harm’s way is letting everyone know these games still matter. As not only the quarterback but the captain of captains on this Bengals team, players need to be more accountable for their performance, which this year has been substandard to say the least.

“Players gotta go play great,” Burrow said. “Just gotta go play. We have good coaches. There’s not a scheme in the NFL that is so revolutionary that it’s going to completely change the way a player plays the game. Coaches work really hard and are smart, and they work a lot of hours to put players in position to make plays. And at the end of the day, you have to go make plays and play great within the system. At the end of the day, players have to take some accountability and play really good.”