CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow will never be mistaken for a man in the trenches. But his mentality this season has won over at least one of the five linemen assigned with protecting him.
Bengals center and fellow offensive captain Ted Karras knows how hard Burrow has worked to get back on the field after his calf injury on July 27.
Karras has been front and center for the steady if not explosive improvement of the offense in the last two wins. The Bengals came out fast against Arizona, going up 10-0 in the first quarter. Against Seattle, the Bengals scored on their first two drives, taking a 14-7 lead before stalling for the rest of the game.
Karras can see Burrow getting more and more confident as his mobility increased.
“Obviously, everything runs through Joe on this team, and when you look at what he did to start the season and gut it out,” Karras said. “Obviously, we didn’t have as much early success as we wanted. But when you see your guy who just signed a quarter of a billion dollar contract go out there on one leg and try to grit it out for the team because he knows that the success of all of us, it’s an 11-man unit out there, but it is predicated on his success.
“For him to go out there and show us that early in the season. He’s a special guy. Obviously, I’m not on Joe watch. He looks pretty good. We had a good crisp day (Wednesday), but I think the biggest thing that came out of early in the season is that everyone knows how tough this guy is and went out there and and showed it.”
Ted Karras says Joe Burrow has already showed the kind of leader he is by "gritting it out" after signing his massive extension pic.twitter.com/PsbfXasV74
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 25, 2023
Make no mistake, the Bengals know how important Sunday could be in the scope of things, as far as the post-bye part of the schedule is concerned. The Bengals are entering a stretch Sunday where they play eight straight games against teams with .500 record or better through the first eight weeks.
“I think we just got to go out and play well, we got to focus on getting the win,” Burrow said. “We let the narratives and the headlines do what they’re going to do. We’re focused about what we need to do to get a win this Sunday.”
"We'll find out a lot about ourselves on Sunday." Joe Burrow on Bengals' trip to play 49ers. pic.twitter.com/2to0ct8qKV
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 25, 2023
And they’re taking on a San Francisco team that has lost two straight after 15 straight regular season wins. Without going all Joe Namath Super Bowl III, Karras did indicate Wednesday that he is very confident the Bengals can go on the road against the Niners and come away victorious.
“I think we know who we are. But this is a big big game – not that the 49ers are the barometer of who we are – but this is to get above 500 for the first time in the air and that’s a really really good football team over there with a lot of talented players,” Karras said. “We’re going to go into Levi’s Stadium, and I’m sure it’s going to be rocking Sunday afternoon and we’re going to get a win.
“We’re back and we attacked (Wednesday) with some good intensity and ferocity and a lot of good execution. So we’re going to need a good padded day (Thursday).”
There has been much clamoring among Bengals fans that the team should acquire a running back or tight end ahead of next Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET. Joe Burrow is not one of those. Not shockingly Wednesday, the quarterback offered his full support of the roster as it is. “One hundred percent,” Burrow said. “I’m really confident in all the guys in there. We had a great day of practice (Wednesday). We’re gonna put together two more great days this week. And we’re gonna go play really well on Sunday. We’re excited about it.”
“It’s exciting. We know it’s gonna be a challenge,” Burrow said of this Sunday’s matchup with the 5-2 Niners. “We relish going on the road and playing those kinds of environments. It’ll be a big challenge. We’ll find out a lot about ourselves on Sunday.”
Burrow called his rally from 20-6 down to the Niners in 2021 at Paycor one of the best games of his career, as he led the Bengals back from the brink. Burrow threw an incredible TD to Ja’Marr Chase in the back of the end zone on fourth down and held a 23-20 lead in overtime before the Niners rallied in overtime. Burrow was 25-of-34 for 348 yards and two touchdowns, with a passer rating of 125.6.
“I would say that’s one of the better games that I’ve played in my career,” Burrow said. “I had a lot of confidence after that game. I had a lot of confidence before that game, too. Every game that you play really well, you gain more confidence. You learn from every game. It’s tough to say that you just pick one game and say that was the turning point. But definitely learned a lot from that one.”
The Bengals may not have to worry about Brock Purdy Sunday. Purdy took a hit to the head from Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks on a keeper Monday night. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said Purdy started to feel symptoms on the flight back to California after San Francisco’s 22-17 loss. Darnold started the final six games last season for Carolina before signing with San Francisco in the offseason. He has 61 touchdowns and 55 interceptions in his six-year career dating back to 2018, when he was the third overall pick by the Jets.
