Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase Press Conference – November 25

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase Press Conference – November 25

Hello. Hello. Hello. How are you? Good. Welcome back. Thanks. How you feeling? Feel good. Ready to go. When uh when you got hurt, were you told this would be a three-month process and obviously you cut it down? Yeah. Um, you know, originally it was 12 weeks and then, you know, we’ll start to talk about it. But just like with any injury, you start to learn more about it and start to ask questions about things you can and can’t do. You know, what do we have to avoid in certain time periods postsurgery and just kind of take it as it goes. Did you get creative to cut that time down or? Um, yeah. Yeah, I guess you could say that. I think number one, I have a physical therapist in Nick and trainers mainly Matt that really understood what stressed the repair, what we could and couldn’t do in certain time periods. And so we pushed it within the limits of what what we could do and kind of just based it on how how I was feeling, how I was recovering, how it looked the next day after we pushed it and just went from there. How was last week for you getting multiple full practices in and doing that for the first time? Yeah, it was it was it felt good. I needed it. Um, felt good to to get some live reps, both scout team and first team. Um, and I think that’ll serve me well this week, having a full week where, you know, you’re expecting to play and and you’re going through your preparation like like you’re going to play and then, um, that doesn’t happen. So, um, but it’s good to have that under your belt to to then go into this week where you’re not going to get a ton of full speed reps because it’s a Thursday night. um against a team that played a million times and uh I think that’ll serve us well. Was the unknown last week as you’re you’re pushing I think to play and you don’t know if it’s going to happen or not. Been in that situation. Yeah, I’ve been I’ve been in that spot before and you know trust the decision makers and trust the medical people and everybody that was involved in the decision- making and um you know I thought we made a good decision and and now this week we’ll be reared up ready to go. Joe, just to be clear, you’re planning on starting on Thursday, correct? Like that’s that’s the intention. Okay. You said that this would be very meaningful to come back on Thanksgiving. Why does this carry so much meaning to come back to this game specifically? Number one, it’s a division game. Um, I got a lot of respect for the people on the opposite side of the ball, but when you play people twice a year, it’s you you get tired of them. You don’t like them. It’s a division rivalry. You got respect for them, but it’s intense out there. It’s something I wanted to be out there for. playing on Thanksgiving is something I’ve always wanted to do that uh I’ve pushed for in the past and the NFL gave it to us and then you know the injury happened and thought I wasn’t going to be able to play and then as we got closer I you know felt like it was a real possibility. So, that’s exciting to me. And, um, it’s a national stage to go out and and prove yourself again after not playing for several weeks. And every opportunity that you get to to go and prove all the hard work that you’ve put in, the type of player you are is something that uh I try to take advantage of. This is your second Thanksgiving day game, correct? I believe 18 LSU&M was Thanksgiving. Correct. Uh, may maybe. I don’t quite I don’t really I don’t I don’t remember if that was Thanksgiving or not. I don’t remember playing on Thanksgiving before, but Okay. Um could could be. Okay. What What do you like about what what what’s so meaningful about that day specifically? Like why have you always liked one day? I think just like a lot of kids, you you grow up going through Thanksgiving, you have your meals with your family and then you go and sit on the couch and typically there’s not a lot on except football. Back in the day, it was Lions and somebody. You go watch Matthew Stafford throw for 300, 400 some yards with Calvin Johnson and probably lose the game. But it was fun to watch. Uh, you know, those are memories that you have and so I kind of always wanted to to be the person out there. You’ve you’ve done some really cool things in your career. Is are you able to just appreciate how cool it is to come back from a major injury on a prime time Thanksgiving game? Is that particularly exciting for you? Yeah, I think obviously the winning and the division championships that we’ve won are are the most exciting things that that we’ve done. Um, but whenever you have an opportunity like this against a a divisional opponent that’s won five straight and you’re playing on a on a Thursday night in front of the world, that’s uh that’s an exciting opportunity. When did you make up your mind, regardless of what this team’s record is or was going to be, that you were going to come back? As soon as it happened, I was I was pushing to do everything that we could to try to get back on the field. Um, I’m a football player. I get paid a lot of money to go and play a game with my friends and and we work really hard and you know it’s intense and there’s jobs on the line but at the end of the day it’s a game and I’ve worked hard to put myself in this position and get as healthy as I can be to to go out and play with these guys and that’s something I wanted to do. Do you what are your thoughts when people say you’re the franchise, you’re the the most important player on in organization and you should be protected for next year and going forward beyond that? Um, you understand that? Yes, I understand why people feel that way, but you look at it from my perspective. I’m a football player and if I get hurt, I’m going to go through the rehab process and then I’m going to let everybody know when I feel like I can go out there and play. Um, I don’t really know what else to say about that. Um, I’m not going to ever go to somebody and say, “Yeah, I’m healthy, but you know, I don’t think I don’t think I should go out there and play.” That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening. Like, yeah, something’s going to happen. It’s football. Guys are going to get hurt. Guys are going to get concussions. You’re going to break bones, tear ligaments. It’s a physical intense game. That’s that’s part of this. And yeah, I’ve had injuries. Um there’s not a lot I can do about that. I I work really hard to have that not happen, but what I can do is when it does happen, I can control how I’m attacking my rehab and attacking practice and doing everything in my power to get back as quickly as possible. Uh that’s what I did. On the other change anything about the way you play, like extending plays and being cautious with that or you’re out there and you just got to play the way you play. Um we’ll see. We’ll see. I think I’m I’m feeling I’m feeling good. Good enough to go out there and move and and extend. um obviously pick my spots when when to do that and when not to. Um but I’m I feel confident that in certain moments I’ll be able to do that. Sunday probably tough loss for you to have to sit back and watch, but I mean with Pittsburgh losing as well, really didn’t lose any ground in the division race. So at this point in time, you know, if you guys are able to win out, probably a pretty good chance that you could still get in. Are you confident that you guys can run the table down the stretch? I think we just got to take it one game at a time. I think um yeah, like you said, we pretty much have to win every game at this point and the only way that you’re going to do that is by attacking each week. Like you have to be one and0 that week and then move on in the next. How hard has it been? I know the rehab and the injury and all of those things, but watching the team go through what they’ve gone through over the past 10 games or nine games without you, how hard has it been? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s always tough when when you’re not out there and you can’t contribute to winning or losing on the field. Um that’s typically the hardest part about this whole thing and um so yeah, it was tough. It was tough to watch from my position. Obviously, I want to be out there with everybody. So, but that’s part of it. How much have you picked Flaco’s brain and tried to learn from him? Yeah, I think whenever you have a guy that’s played that long, you can especially a guy that plays so much differently than you do, you can, you know, ask him what he thought in this situation or how how would you react to to this or that and he’s played a long time and played at a high level. So, um, that’s something that I did take advantage of. Going back to the earlier question about play style in general, just not even injury related, but just having been through it and want to see get back to full strength fully. Is there something that you thought about maybe I’d like to play a little bit differently? Have you assessed how you might like to play as a quarterback moving forward? Has that changed at all given what happened with this injury? Yeah, you think about a lot of different things when number one, you have time to think about them and you know, you watch a lot of games across the league and you see who’s playing well, who’s not, what’s working schematically, what isn’t. Um, you you evaluate everything. Joe, what’s been your impression of of the running game the last month, month and a half, and how instrumental can that be in kind of helping you ease your way back in? Yeah, we got to keep building on that. That’s been that’s been a positive of everything that’s been going on. I think we’ve been physical. I think um schematically we we’ve done a lot of things to to get a an advantage in that in that realm and uh we got to keep building on it. Chase is going to run like he runs. He’s going to make people miss and have explosive plays. Um we got to keep blocking the way that we are in the run game and I think that momentum will carry. I assume it’s fair to say the toe is not 100%. Where would you put it right now? It’s tough to say. I feel I feel confident that I can go out and do everything that I need to do to to win a game. Can you take us through and this is going way back to the injury, but just take us through the play where you’re looking at Jamar and what was going on through your mind during that play. Obviously, you end up getting hurt on. Yeah, that was uh you know, you’re trying to get the ball out and some unexpected things happen that you know, you can’t really let it go and then um pocket starts to collapse and you try to buy a little time and then I just tried to give myself up and my foot got caught in the turf. So, um unlucky. Is there anything you could have done differently? I mean, he’s obviously jammed up. It’s not free. you’re trying to hit him right away. Like quarterbackwise, is there anything that you would have done differently in that moment? Hindsight’s 2020. You can’t you can’t play a play or game or practice or anything worried about getting hurt or doing anything like that. So, um there’s not anything I would have done differently in that play. Safe to say this is an extremely unique situation where football expression is trains moving at 100 miles an hour and you’re jumping onto a moving train. 100 miles an hour. Have you thought about that about what you’re going to have to do not only physically but to get ready and be ready to play at that level? Yeah, it’s certainly a different mental space you have to be in throughout the week to prepare the way you need to to go out and play great. Um, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to to get uh two full weeks of practice before I went out there and performed. Um, and then, you know, we we were going to move up that timeline and then, um, obviously didn’t end up playing last week, but, you know, preparing that whole week like I was going to play, I think, uh, beneial putting yourself in that mental state to get back into the swing of things. It’s a it’s a it’s an intense place to be at times. So, I’m glad I had that week to uh feel that before Thursday. In 2022 and 2023, you basically missed like six weeks of camp and came back and played with about two weeks of practice. Did that feel at all similar to this? Just in terms of missing a decent chunk of time and coming back with limited practice reps. Um yeah. Yeah, maybe a little. I think, you know, I think I’ve had more practice this year. I went through a full training camp. I got preseason reps, played a game, played another quarter and a half, and then had two full weeks these last two weeks. So, I think I’m probably in a more advantageous spot this time than that time. So, I’m happy about that. In 22, I think after the FEL won the division, I think somebody asked you about the the window. You said the window is your whole career. Has that changed in your mind after what’s happened over the last three years? How much how much have you thought about that championship window given what’s happened now since you made that statement to now? Yeah, I think anytime any of us step foot on the field, we are confident that we can go and beat whoever. I’m I’ll never step on the foot on the field when I don’t think we can win. when I don’t think that I can go out and play great and put us in a position to win. The second that that happens, then I shouldn’t be playing anymore. So, uh I’m always confident in in myself and my teammates for sure. Whether it’s this year or next year, whenever, what needs to happen from here on out to put y’all position to be contending in in a position to be pushing towards the playoffs with a with better odds than where y’all have been this year and last year? Players got to go play great. We got to go play, you know, We have good coaches. We have There’s not There’s not a scheme in the NFL that is so revolutionary that it’s going to completely change the way a player plays the game. Um, coaches work really hard and are smart and they work a lot of hours to put players in position to make plays. And at the end of the day, you have to go make plays and you have to play great within that system. So, Um, at the end of the day, players have to take some accountability and go and play really good. Joe, what went into the decision for you not to play on Sunday? A lot of things. A lot of things. Um, at the end of the day, it was Zach’s decision. You know, we went into that week. I had a good workout early in the week. Uh, I was feeling good. And Wednesday, Thursday practice happened. I took a lot of reps. My body was pretty sore. Um, not necessarily my toe. My toe feels great, but just the rest of my body being back out there for so long. And, uh, I was confident that I could get that right in order to to play on Sunday. But, um, Zach ended up thinking that Thursday was it was better to to wait the extra four days, and I think that was a good decision. So, so if he said green light, you would have been prepared to do it. Correct. I would have, but um I’m not trying to push you against Zach. I’m just I gota I gotcha. Uh yeah, it was uh at the end of the day, it was head coach’s call. Joe, these final six games back here. Sorry. Is there anything you hope to prove to yourself or to the outside world in these final six games? I just want to go and play well. I want to go and win games. That’s what that’s what we try to do. Um go make plays, get my guys the ball. I just want to go and play well. How much did you How much did you miss it? Yeah, you all you miss it. You miss it a lot. You know, it’s it’s tough to to be in those situations. Um but I’ve been in that spot before. It’s uh the first time is typically the hardest and then second time a little less hard but still hard. And then the third time you’re like, “Come on, guys. like maybe we could stop doing this to me. But um we got through it. We’re back and I’m feeling good about Jamal apology yesterday. He seemed bothered by his actions. Do you think you’ll see a different intensity about him this week or Thursday night? No, he’s he’s who he is. Um he’s an intense great player that uh he’s going to go out and do what he does on the field. He’s going to prepare the way that he does no matter any extenduating circumstances. I don’t think there’s going to be much different. The performances you and Lamar have had against each other. It’s just so rare to see intra division passers like this. You go back Manning really never had that inter division guy. Same with Brady. Do you acknowledge that might be a big part of your story someday when it’s all said and done? these these chapters with Lamar and these numbers that continue to pop up when you guys square off. Yeah, for sure. I think obviously every everybody sees how great of a player he is and how hard he works and how he improves every single year. Obviously have a lot of respect for him and and love competing against him. Thanks, we’ve got Jamar lined up. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] tomorrow. You issued the statement yesterday on Instagram, the apology. Would you like to expand upon or explain it uh why you felt the need to issue the apology? Um just getting it out. Just giving a moment to apologize to everybody just letting myself get out of control, out of character. Um, basically messing over my name, organization, NFL, and everybody else associated with me. That’s pretty much it though. Did you know in the moment that that it happened? Like what kind of did you did you kind of what kind of happened in the course of that play to that led to you maybe going over the line? I ain’t gonna get all into detail all that but but I know of course I mean one question that people did have is that you didn’t mention Ramsay specifically by name in the apology. Was there any reason for that? Have you reached out to him kind of has there been any um you know conversations with Jaylen about what happened? Uh no we don’t have no conversations or nothing like that. I ain’t got no way to get in contact with him. What are these what are these what have you thought about being away from the facility over these last seven days and kind of processing everything that’s happened this season you’ve had up to this point? What have you thought about in the time away you have? Um I had so much time I was bored. I mean I wouldn’t I didn’t know what to think about everything at that time. You know what I’m saying? So, but it wasn’t really one thing I’m thinking about. I’m just trying to watch the game. Just worry about my, you know, what’s I can’t control at the end of the day. That’s what I’m worried about for real. How hard was Sunday having to watch? Um, it wasn’t hard watching the game at the end of the day. It was just I guess I can finally say I know how Cincinnati fans feel watching the game. It was a little nerve-wracking for me. Usually when I’m in the game, it’s not nerve-wracking, but watching it, it was for me. Yeah. Do you worry this is something that might follow you for a long time? What might the suspension? What led to it? No, I could care less for real. No. Is there something you want to prove this week or is it going to take longer to prove that that’s not you that I mean do you go out there with a different I mean at the end of the day I don’t really have nothing to prove who I am. I mean either you like me or you don’t. I could care less. I’m still going to go for it at the end of the day. I got kids. I got people to take care of so I could really care less. So, I’m going out there, be the same player I am, you know what I’m saying, and play football. As end of the day, ain’t nobody going to stop me from who I am. How do you how do you kind of Is there a certain part of you that maybe recalibrates how to tow that line? I mean, you’ve been really passionate. You’ve gotten in it with guys before. Uh, never really cross it the way you did on Sunday. Have you kind of thought about the way to how to maybe tow that line the way you want to best? How has that kind of been? Uh, all I can say is it’s limits when stuff happens. You know what I’m saying? his limits and it’s a mountain of limits people can control and they going to allow. So that’s all like I said about that. How important were the was the support of not only Zack but everybody in the locker room to you and getting through what has obviously been a pretty tumultuous week. Um you know I really didn’t have no conversation with nobody cuz I couldn’t. But um when I got back, everybody was, you know, pretty much, you know, cheering me on, just glad I’m back and let’s get back to work, you know. So, it was a lot of positivity going around. So, um the only person that really had a chance to just text me was like T, you know what I’m saying? Checking up on me. Jamar, you and Joe are having different comebacks of sorts on Thursday night. How excited are you to play with him on Thursday? Um, it’s good to have him back. You know what I’m saying? I’m happy I got my friend back back out there. Glad he back. I know he’s excited for it. um was not a better game for him to come back and show what he can do. Did you think he was gonna play last week? Like from afar when you’re watching, were you like, “Man, he’s gonna come back and I’m not going to be there.” No. Nah. You didn’t buy it? No, I didn’t. I ain’t going to lie. I I don’t I don’t think he I know he wanted to play, but I don’t I don’t think it was time though. But it’s still okay, though. You know what I’m saying? I think there’s health. Is it time now? I hope it’s time. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? It’s been a minute. Uh they gave him another week to relax and get his stuff back under him. So uh his leg should be feeling good. Feet should be feeling good and should be ready. If we had asked you last Thursday if Joe should have played Sunday, what would you have said? Uh I could say can he play? Yes. Would he play? I don’t know. So you’ve been pretty vocal in the past like with the cap. You’re like listens to I’d like him to take some time make 100%. He still played anyways. How do you feel like he’s grown in that regard in terms of maybe knowing when to push, when not to push, and listening to when other people say, “Hey, you know, it might be best to take some extra time.” Um, at the end of the day, it don’t really matter what everybody else had to say about what his situation is because it’s a him thing that feels everything that’s going on within his body. So the doctors tell him his amount of weeks that’s going on and if he could play after those weeks up at the end of the day it’s still up to him on if his his body feels good enough to be in a physical game like that. you know, how important how important is it to have the reps with him, you know, in the last few days and and that that has to feel good to you. Um, not really that many reps that I like that I had with him. I think last week was when he had a little bit of tart, like a lot more of practicing, you know what I’m saying? So, I wasn’t there for none of it. And um probably today will be the first time, you know, we really get an opportunity to really connect on some stuff with him as you know. So um we’ll just see how it goes. I mean shouldn’t it shouldn’t go nowhere. When you look back at kind of everything that happened in that Steelers game, what’s probably now you got a lot of time to think about. What’s the thing you probably regret the most after with how everything went from before, beginning, after? Um messing over my name. Like I said, how tough was that to see that kind of being everywhere in the way that you were talked about, discussed in that way? Was that was that maybe the toughest part about it? It’s social media. Everybody got an opinion. Everybody gonna say something. But it is what it is at the end of the day. You know what I’m saying? I keep my opponents on it. I watch it. I see who say stuff and it is what it is. So, I don’t really care. Something to keep in the back of your mind moving forward? No. Not at all. No. You think opponents are going to try to bait you into more of that moving forward? They could. They already do it. They’ve been doing it. It ain’t nothing new at the end of the day. I mean, like I said, it’s a lot. It’s stuff that you gonna allow and stuff that you’re not going to allow. It’s a limit to everything. Looking at Baltimore, it’s been a little bit of a odd year for them defensively. They were struggling earlier in the year, starting to kind of find their footing again on the defensive side. What have you seen from them? And how exciting is it for, you know, you to get back in a big division Thanksgiving game like this? Yeah. Um, it’s not too not too it’s really not that much I know about Baltimore right now. Just just overall looking at them. Um, I got to get back and watch them a little bit more cuz um, I haven’t watched them on any games yet on TV or nothing like that. Um, but you know, overall they always have a great defense, great up front. Um, putting pressure, making it hard for receivers. So, we got to do a good job of just creating separation, getting opportunities. You said there’s stuff you allow, stuff you Say it again. You said there’s stuff you’ll allow, stuff you won’t allow. I assume Jaylen did something that you won’t allow. Um, I’m sure it’s probably something like that. Care to disclose what he did? Of course not. Is it verbal? Safe to say having the back of your teammates is pretty high on your priority list as a captain. You say having my teammates back as as a captain? Yeah. This team having their back is pretty sure everybody know I’ll be the first one to do something for them. Is is there is there a way that being a captain now maybe changes your lens on how these things go? Um you know like kind of how your team might need you in a different way than maybe it previously did it when you weren’t captain. Is that a is that something that you calculate at all? Does that matter at all? What’s that what’s that like kind of putting that into that? I think me getting the captain role is making me a better person than who I am. That’s what comes with it. Just because the guys picked me that it makes me grow, too. Um and they helping me grow. So that’s what comes with the captain ro. Joe talked about he liked playing on Thanksgiving. Did you ever grow up on Thanksgiving? Um yeah. Yeah. That was always a cool thing, you know, growing up during Christmas. So something pretty cool. Do you have any big memories of watching games growing up as a kid? Guys you liked any any anything y’all did? No, not really. No, not no great memories like that. No. Joe’s back. You’re back after a one game absence. Do you feel like over the final six weeks you guys can go on a run here? Um, this is just the best opportunity to do it. You know what I’m saying? Missed out on a couple games early in the season, but we got to take take advantage of what’s in front of us and and execute as best as we can. I’m sorry. I’ve seen you talk a couple of times, Chase Brown, and guys obviously become really close. What have you appreciated about the way he’s grown? Uh, maybe I don’t know some leadership qualities as well, but what have you appreciated about the way he’s attacked the the game lately? Um, overall Jake just been good to lean on for the game. Um, asking questions, um, coverages when I come to the sideline. Just overall any tips and details I could get from Jake, he does really good at of of helping and, um, you know, I I really do appreciate him for for stuff like that. I’m sorry, Chase Brown. Okay, Chase Brown. Um, honestly, man, Chase has been playing incredible this year. Um, overall, I mean, when I got back to the locker room, I told him how good he played last game. So, I just want to make sure I’m positive to him, keep it going, keep that keep that momentum he has, keep building off it, and, you know, make the offense better. What’s the biggest thing this team wants to accomplish given where you at the record, how many games are left? What do y’all want to go out and do most over these next six weeks? The biggest thing is just pushing for the AFC Championship. That’s the biggest thing. Trying to trying to win a division as best as we can. We know we um played one team already, so you know, we got to get after it. You know what I’m saying? At the end of the day, um it’s not that many other games we have that that’s in the way for the for the division. So, the ones that we do have, we got to capitalize on it. Zach already said yesterday you guys won’t have tea Thursday night. It’s not first time he’s missed games. How much harder is it for you when he’s not off? Um a lot more zone. I would say it’s a lot more zones. Um and really just six six strong when T was in a lot, you know what I’m saying? And play quarters and a lot of two, but um now I might be like maybe some man with double. If T’s not out there, you know, probably play man with everybody else and just double me, you know. Who knows though? So, we got winners. It’s really rare that she you see star receivers get to stay together, have the relationship together, especially given how that position can go sometimes. Why do you and T get along so well uh when that’s not always the case around the league? Uh I think it’s just because we both not selfish at the end of the day. You know what I’m saying? We both know what it takes to to be receiver. We know how hard it is being receiver. Um we don’t fight over the ball, nothing like that. Um even when there’s plays that we might mess up on and we know that that person getting the ball, we might ended up switching it on accident and you know, so uh it’s never a moment where we both fighting for the ball. You referenced your teammates in your statement. Um, did you let that stand or did you get up in front of the team and say anything? No, I didn’t get in front of the team or nothing like that yet. No, you say not yet. No, I didn’t do nothing none of that yet. Anything. Thanks, Mark.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase speak to the media.

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