The Bengals most celebrated employee wearing roster No. 9 came to Saturday's media briefing as the owner of several significant records.
Former Heisman winner Joe Burrow might have established many different marks last year had he not been limited to 10 games. Despite that, his 2,688 passing yards were fifth among NFL passers. Five times he threw for more than 300 yards which is third-best for a rookie and he's the first NFL newcomer to have three consecutive 300-yard games (games 2-4 last season).
His next accomplishment may be the most daunting, but also the most impressive.
After suffering an ACL/MCL tear in his left knee last November vs. Washington, he's now eight months removed from his December 2020 surgery. That he is competing in training camp is noteworthy.
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That he is struggling proves that despite his superhero efforts at LSU and with the Bengals proves that Joe Burrow is human after all. Offensive coordinator Brian Callaham says he's most impressed that Burrow is stepping into the proverbial batter's box and taking swings.
"To be back where he’s at at the time frame he’s been back and being able to participate fully with the amount of work that it took to get there I think is really incredible, to be honest," Callahan said.
For a shade over 16 minutes Saturday morning, Burrow was upfront and honest about his frustration. He's had two practices where he struggled to complete half of his passes (in fairness, there were catchable balls dropped) then he was directed to take Thursday off. Friday, there were a couple of false starts, some tight defense and a few incompletions. By all indications, his ball still has some pop.
"I would say right now it’s a mental thing. I’m getting back used to playing football again against top-level competition," Burrow said."Hopefully a couple more days we’ll get it back to my old self. I’m throwing the ball in the right spot, getting the right checks and doing all that stuff right now. It’s just putting the physical and mental side back together. They’re two separate things right now. Just getting that connection back is going to take reps."
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By design, Saturday's practice was designed to have the 7-on-7 competition ramped up with simulated pressure in the pocket to purposely aggravate Burrow. The young quarterback specifically asked to have more interference to help him through his admitted mental hesitancy.
"It's up there, it's frustrating right now," Burrow said of his current lapses. "More so just not feeling like myself. I know I've put in the work to make my knee feel good, my body feel ready for the season, it's just now trusting my abilities, trusting my work, trusting everything."
He's trying to temper his expectations for now, knowing the opening game vs. Minnesota is still more than a month away. Burrow says he hasn't talked too much with head coach Zac Taylor or Callahan about his frustration level. Nor has he talked to his father, Jim Burrow, a former college assistant at Iowa State, Nebraska, North Dakota State and Ohio University.
"I just have to work through it on my own," Burrow said. "I'm in kind of dark mode. I'm not talking to anybody right now outside of football. It's just something I have to work through."
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As a starter, Burrow was 2-7-1 in 2020 with four of those losses being by three, five, four and three points, respectively. Back-up Brandon Allen was 1-4 and Ryan Finley had the win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fortunately, Burrow and coaches don't see any of this as a long-term issue. After all, typical recovery from an ACL/MCL tear is nine to 12 months and ' No. 9 is taking his lumps in month eight. As with many things, repetition is key.
"That's really all it comes down to," Callahan said. "The more times you can put yourself in an uncomfortable position, the next time it's a little more comfortable. You stack a bunch of those together between now and September and I think you get to where you want to be."
In addition to his thoughts on Burrow, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan had several assessments about the rest of the offense.
Callahan on the running backs
Joe Mixon has appeared healthy and dangerous and is ready to spend more time on the field with the trade of Giovanni Bernard. However. there are some interesting options behind him, including Michigan rookie Chris Evans.
"He's got some quickness and suddenness I wasn't sure about," Callahan said. "I didn't see enough tape to know how that would look. He's been impressive. He's, again, a natural pass catcher and a really good route runner for a guy his size."
Callahan also pointed out former Mixon teammate at Oklahoma Samaje Perine for his versatility as well as others you may see in the preseason opener at Tampa Bay.
"Samaje's kind of a proven commodity, one as a ball carrier and two as a pass protector," Callahan said. ."After that, we're going to find out on how good these guys are, see them pick up some wide blitzes, between Chris (Evans), Trayveon (Williams) and Jacques Patrick, who we kind of joke all around because he had one scrimmage last year and got to play in no preseason games and I don't think he's been tackled yet."
Patrick is listed at 234 pounds and is a former Florida State Seminole who played with the XFL's Tampa Bay Vipers before joining the Bengals practice squad last season.
Callahan on the receivers
"There’s been opportunities in practice to make some plays that we haven’t," Callahan said. "There’s also been a few times guys have made some pretty nice catches. Those things come and go, especially talking about lower percentage passes down the field, some of those you’re going to make over the course of a training camp, some you’re going to miss. I would like to make a whole lot more than we miss, but you will miss them occasionally. I don’t feel them pressing, I just feel guys trying to get better. Ja’Marr (Chase) is trying to get more comfortable, it’s a lot of offense we’ve put in."
Callahan on new offensive lineman adjusting to NFL speed
“Yeah, you just hope you get a taste of it in the preseason," Callahan said. "And every game you go out there in the preseason gets a little bit faster, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for a live rush when those guys all start playing. You just hope you get the best in practice and you gotta just adjust and you hope it’s not too big for them. I don’t think it will be, but I do think that there is a substantial adjustment. The speed is legitimate. There’s a bunch of guys over there that are kinda trying to take your soul so you better be ready, that’s all I know."
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