Joe Burrow met the Cincinnati media for the first time this season on Tuesday. He offered insights on his comeback from wrist surgery and his hopes for the 2024 Bengals moments after they finished their second on-field workout of the offseason on the Kettering Health Practice Fields adjacent to Paycor Stadium.
On how it feels: "It felt good the last two days. I don't ever really know how it's going to feel until I wake up the next morning, but I was encouraged by the last couple of days for sure … Sometimes it's going to hurt. We'll be smart about it … I'll keep (pain) to myself, but whenever you have an injury there is going to be some pain in spots."
On his satisfaction level where he's throwing the ball: That's something I'm still working through. You know, the consistency isn't quite where I want it to be yet, but there's definitely flashes of getting better. I'm excited about that. The next step for me is just the continued drive for consistency for throw in, throw out. Footwork, every single snap. That's something I'm still working on."
On bulking up his body in the offseason: "We're bigger. Definitely bigger. We'll see where I'm at the end of the offseason. I feel good about where my body is right now … I'm eating more, I'm more dialed as far as nutrition and food schedule and eating when I need to so that's been a big area of emphasis for me and I've seen the results."
On last season and this season: "We weren't consistent enough. We weren't explosive enough. We really weren't good enough in just about any aspect. So there were lots of areas to improve, including myself and across all the areas of the team ... However the season plays out, we're going to continue to adapt as a team and get better each day."
On the Bengals' free agency roster additions: "I feel good about all the guys we brought in, offense and defense. We brought in the right kind of guys. Good players, guys that we've played against in the past that we've had experience with and know what they have out there."
On the possibility of an 18-game schedule: "That's not easy adding that extra game. Obviously, it would be great for revenue, but I feel like adding that bye week if you're going to have the 18-game schedule is pretty critical for our bodies. If you keep that first bye week, and some teams have the bye in Week 5, Week 6, and then you're going 12, 13 games in a row, that's not easy. Probably a Thursday night game thrown in in there, too, so that's never easy.
"Those two byes are pretty critical. Maybe you could do something like the first bye is kind of how we have it now and the second bye everybody has it once and you make it like the Pro Bowl week or something like the All-Star week for the NBA, I don't know. People that paid a lot of money to have those discussions and make those decisions, but we'll see how it plays out."
On the trade requests of Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson: "Those guys have their business they need to take care of. I support them in every way. Both those guys have earned everything that has come to them and more. I'll support them all the way through it. Whatever they feel like is best for their career. That's for them and their agents and their families to decide. But we are here to win football games. I really hope both those guys are here next year because we are a better football team with both of them. They are both great locker room guys, too. They are going to do what they've got to do, but when the time comes for them to come back, if that time comes, we are going to welcome them back and hit our stride."
