In the past, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been plenty honest about changes to his offseason training approach, whether it’s changing up frequency due to wear and tear, little injury prevention things or even tweaks to his throwing motion while rehabbing an injury.
The latest, though, comes from Dak Notestine, director of performance at Black Sheep Performance in Cincinnati, who spoke with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com about Burrow’s training this offseason.
“This offseason, what we’ve done so far is do a little more mimicry of positions he’ll find himself in during a game and things he thinks could be tuned up,” Notestine told Hobson. “He’s trying to put himself in athletic positions so he can be the athlete that he is. Sometimes, even though he’s had some amazing plays and clearly shown the ability to escape, people see him more as a thrower. Not that he wants to change his game at all, but I just think he likes the athleticism of being able to make guys miss.”
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Fans often hear mention of Burrow working on things like “off-platform throws” or scramble drills or even messy pocket simulations, so these comments file mostly into those areas.
Burrow’s athleticism training, discipline with fundamentals (like keeping both hands on the ball at all times) and other factors go into his savvy pocket maneuvers that lead to big plays.
If Burrow’s a little faster and more durable next season, too, fans will know it was the product of intense, ever-adapting offseason work like detailed above.
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