In a hair-raising first day of practice at Bengals training camp Wednesday, buzzed, bleached, and buffed Joe Burrow began what he hopes is his headiest preseason as a pro by turning the head of wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Higgins, who broke in with Burrow during that truncated COVID camp of 2020, has seen his guy do it all. But since Higgins is playing on the franchise tag, Wednesday was his first time on the field with him since Burrow had surgery on his wrist.
"He looks like the Joe y'all seen in the Super Bowl run," said Higgins, shaking his head over a long ball he couldn't chase down. "That's what I like. I had to get my legs back. I'm going to put that one on me. He put it out there where I can go get it, and I just couldn't get there."
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is making sure Burrow gets there both intact and in sync by protecting him with days off while also exposing him to snaps in preseason games, as well as joint practices with the Bears and Colts.
Burrow couldn't get any preseason work anywhere the previous two years because of last season's strained calf and 2022's appendectomy the night before camp began. His only three preseason snaps came in a 2021 training camp where he was limited by ACL rehab and he's not only delighted he's getting the extra work, but he thinks his offense can use it after getting off to two straight 0-2 starts.
"It's just different when you go warm up knowing you're going to play," Burrow said after practice. "I think that's the best way to go about it. This year we'll try it out. I think in order for us to be at our best at the beginning of the year, I think we kind of need that. That's something we wanted to do in years past and we haven't been able to do. I'm excited to get that done this year.
"We'll see (if it prevents a slow start). That's a question that's to be determined. I think we're thinking about it the right way. I think we're trying new things to try to help those slow starts and getting off to faster starts, putting us in a better position at the midway point of the season. I do think that it will help, but we'll see."
Burrow's camp looks to be unfolding as one of feel and improv that fittingly began with a dare from defensive tackle B.J. Hill to bleach a buzz cut.
"I was bored," said Burrow, who won't be now with this busy August itinerary.
But Taylor also knows he's got a Pro Bowl quarterback coming off surgery and there are going to be days he doesn't throw. There are only two times before the Aug. 10 preseason opener against Tampa Bay the Bengals practice more than two straight days and Burrow says they'll play the third day "by ear."
But he says the wrist is fine, and wide receiver Andrei Iosivas reported after practice his ball seemed to have more zip than it did in the spring. Burrow caught linebacker Germaine Pratt and cornerback Mike Hilton looking over the middle when he gunned it between them to Iosivas.
"I still have some throws, 'Well, what did that look like?' Usually it goes where I want it to, but sometimes it doesn't spin the way I want it to, so we're still working through that," Burrow said. "But I feel really good about where I'm at. I feel like I kind of figured something out towards the end of the practice there in individuals. I'm looking forward to exploring that more."
Burrow is in the tinkering phase of camp, so he'll come back to that, or he could dump it. All he knows is "Something clicked in so I'm excited to explore that a little more."
And there's also more of him to explore. If you think he looks bigger, he does. He says he's anywhere between 215 to 220 pounds, the biggest he's been since he's been in the league.
Definitely bigger than the last time he bleached his hair, which was ten years ago when everybody on the Athens High School Bulldogs bleached their hair following a win over St. Francis DeSales of Columbus that gave them a regional title and put them in the Ohio Final Four behind Burrow's 135 rushing yards.
"I'm looking to channel some of that," said Burrow, who is still looking for the right weight. "My weight fluctuates about five pounds throughout the day, six to seven five to seven pounds …
"We're going to find out. We're going to find out throughout the camp. I'm going to continue to adapt to however I feel. If I feel a little sluggish out there, then I'll drop some weight. But I think the way to go about it for me now is to come in a little heavier, and then it's really easy for me to drop weight. So if I feel sluggish and slow, then I can drop five pounds like that and go from there."
He may be experimenting with reps and technique and playing weight, but at age 26 and in his fifth NFL season, he knows what he seeks.
"I know I'm pretty damn good. I have been," Burrow said. "I'm going to continue to improve year to year, day to day. I think that's how you have to approach it. I'm focused on continued improvement and I'm really happy with the offseason that I had. I'm really happy to have this training camp to continue to hone my skills and improve and build this team chemistry for this run we're about to go on."
Higgins didn't need some kind of hideaway weekend to get secretly timed up with his quarterback before camp. He ran into him at Paycor Stadium a few days ago.
"We threw one time in the weight room. He came in and I was in getting some treatment," Higgins said. "He was like 'Wanna catch some? I want to throw today.' I was like, '…why not?' And he was zipping it."
It sounds like you'll be seeing more and more of him in this camp of adjustments.
