CINCINNATI — Well, Joe Burrow was at least on the field tossing a football on Tuesday as Bengals mandatory minicamp got underway inside the IEL structure on West Mehring Way.
But to draw anything more from Burrow’s presence Tuesday would amount to journalistic malpractice.
Burrow spent the day lightly tossing the football in warmup, taking his walkthrough snaps before stretch, taking part in light throwing during team periods. He also did some throwing in the quarterback group that included Jake Browning, Logan Woodside and Rocky Lombardi.
In other words, Burrow did very little that resembled an uptempo practice session for June 11.
And that’s just fine with the Bengals, who want their quarterback to focus more on working through rehab on his surgically repaired right wrist than worrying about hitting Ja’Marr Chase or Jermaine Burton on go routes 45 yards down the field.
We haven’t seen Burrow throw deep in the last two weeks, which can be explained by the quarterback easing off the pedal and listening to his body.
Burrow wasn’t the only one going through the motions in the hour 90-minute practice indoors on a picture-perfect late spring day in Cincinnati.
Joe Burrow working mechanics Tuesday pic.twitter.com/1Ttru05sNc
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 11, 2024
We were reminded again Tuesday that Burrow learned a lot the hard way from the calf injury he sustained on the second day of training camp and how he could’ve and should’ve handled it differently, both before taking the field on July 27 and afterward in a rush to get ready for the opener in Cleveland.
“Yeah, I definitely thought about that,” Burrow said. “I don’t think I quite handled it the right way. I definitely would have taken some more time. And so that’s kind of been you know, I would say the calf was the catalyst for that change.”
Burrow, at this stage of the offseason, is all about rehab: Get the wrist to the point where it’s ready to go in September, and part of that rehab is the motion of throwing a football at different effort levels.
“I would say that’s definitely a part of it,” Burrow told me. “You want to get those body mechanics back and muscle memory, but I also feel really good about how I’m throwing and so now it’s just making sure my body feels the way I need to come July 24 on our first day of practice and then through training camp and the first game.”
Does he feel about as expected at this point?
“Yeah, you always forget how hard it is coming back from injury,” Burrow said. “Every time it happens I think the same thing because there’s always peaks where you’re like, ‘I’m feeling great.’ And then a couple months later you have a couple days where it’s like, ‘Man, I’m not feeling that great.’ In the past I pushed through that and caused problems for myself, and this year, I’m not doing that.”
Once the Bengals do get their offense in gear and installed during the summer, one thing to watch for is an increased variety of packages they can throw at defenses to dictate to them.
“I think we’ll see a little bit more variety than we have in the past,” Burrow said. “But I think it’s I think we’re gonna dictate that a little more this year, I’m excited about the pressure, we’re going to put on defenses with our style of offense this year, I think it’ll be exciting to watch.”
What does that mean? Probably more with running backs Chase Brown and Zack Moss, more with tight end Mike Gesicki, involving rookie Jermaine Burton in the deep passing game and working in more of Andrei Iosivas. In other words, lots of different toys to work with.
“I think with the personnel that we have this year, we will be able to do a lot more with personnel groupings, putting different people in different spots in and doing a lot of different things, as far as eye candy and making teams adjust their personnel based on ours,” Burrow said. “So, I think the next couple months throughout training camp will kind of iron all that out and coaches will go back and self-scout for the next month after this and kind of iron that out, but I’m excited to kind of dive into that world.”
Ja’Marr Chase made his first appearance at an offseason practice and his participation was limited to doing routes on air and in walkthrough mode against Mike Hilton and Cam Taylor-Britt. Chase was the only receiver in uniform that did not work with his helmet on, meaning his reps were simply walkthrough in nature.
Chase chose not to speak Wednesday but Burrow didn’t hesitate when asked about his No. 1 receiver and the difference he makes just being there.
“You definitely feel his presence,” Burrow said. “It was nice having him back out there. He’s a guy that always brings energy, always is talking to guys, whether it’s about executing the play that’s being run or whether it’s just providing some fun and some energy. He’s a happy-go-lucky kind of guy that you love being around. So it’s always good to have him back.
“I feel good about where our chemistry is. I don’t feel the need for (extra offseason reps), but if it happens, it happens. There’s always room to improve. Every once in a while we’ll text each other throughout the offseason. We’re always thinking ball. So he’ll text me one of his thoughts. I’ll text him one of my thoughts. That’s the chemistry that you need to go out and perform the way that we have and that we’re gonna continue.”
“You definitely feel his presence. It was nice having him back out there.” Joe Burrow on Ja’Marr Chase Tuesday pic.twitter.com/qUeQaKiUDV
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 11, 2024
One thing he won’t be doing is trying to convince Bengals management how important it is to get a new deal done with the star receiver after Justin Jefferson and Jaylen Waddle got their extensions.
“Nah. I think the best way to handle that is to let him handle business the way that he sees fit,” Burrow said, adding he doesn’t need to tell the front office how good Ja’Marr is. “It doesn’t need to be stated. Everyone knows what we got in him.”
Burrow said he would gladly toss the ball with Tee Higgins informally in the offseason and wait for Higgins to sign his $21.8 million franchise tag tender for the 2024 season.
“Tee and I are always talking. I’ve seen Tee several times this offseason. He looks great. Whenever he’s ready to come back I’ll be excited to see him,” Burrow said.
The Bengals got their first look at tackles Trent Brown, Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims all on the field together and it was quite the massive sight to behold.
The Bengals quarterback did admit that he’s taken up a new interest that might just help in his rehab from wrist surgery. The piano. He’s no Billy Joel or Billy Preston yet, but you can learn a lot from YouTube.
“We’re going to travel a little bit,” Burrow said of his offseason plans. “Learning how to play the piano, so that’s always fun.”
How is he learning?
“Just YouTube videos. Yeah, that’s been a fun process,” said Burrow, who said there are “a couple of songs” he can bang out. “But sit out by the pool. Obviously, still get my workouts in. But we’ll be smart about it (and) throw. Going to go through the normal process, but just going to be more smart about it.”
As for getting beat out by Christian McCaffery for the Madden ’25 cover, Burrow said he didn’t spend any time concerned about it.
“The what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Burrow said. “I know a lot of people ask me if I was, but I didn’t exactly understand what was happening with that.”
Andrei Iosivas explains why it’s good to have Ja’Marr Chase back at Bengals minicamp practice “He’s always out there giving us pointers.” pic.twitter.com/ymBExlhibW
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 11, 2024
