Even at the age of 28, Joe Burrow has experienced nearly all that the game of football offers. He’s played for an Ohio high school state title. He’s won a national championship and Heisman Trophy. He’s reached the Super Bowl, recovered from major injuries (twice), become the highest-paid player in the league, set franchise records and even used his fame to work the Paris Fashion Week runway.
The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has seemingly seen it all.
He’s never seen this.
Never in his life has Burrow been forced to play out the final month of a season with postseason games all but off the table.
As cameras focus on his frustrations and reactions nearly every week, the latest a sideline vent at coach Zac Taylor during a 37-27 win at Tennessee, he’s learning about his coping mechanisms on the fly.
“I always just try to display a championship mindset,” Burrow said. “When things are good and good enough, to do what we want to do, then I try to verbalize that. When things aren’t up to standard, in my opinion, I try to verbalize that as well. I probably could have done that in a better way on Sunday.”
Regarding the incident caught on the broadcast and consequently pored over by every amateur lip reader on the Internet, Burrow pointed out Taylor was urging him to be happy with the win in the moment despite his frustrations with the mistakes over the course of the game.
Burrow admitting he could have handled his emotions better wasn’t an apology. This situation was no different than practicing a play for a guy who calculates all aspects of football like a touchdown-scoring cyborg.
“Just like with anything, you get new reps at things,” Burrow said. “You grow and you learn from them.”
Read more on Burrow here.
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Joe Burrow learning his voice in Bengals’ season gone sideways: ‘I expect greatness’
