{"id":126596,"date":"2025-06-13T12:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T12:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/126596\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T12:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T12:23:12","slug":"burrow-believes-he-has-to-be-better-to-win-more-games-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/126596\/","title":{"rendered":"Burrow believes he has to \u2018be better\u2019 to win more games this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Burrow and the Bengals brought some extra motivation this spring after missing the playoffs for a second straight season in 2024, despite Burrow leading the league in passing yards, touchdowns and completions.<\/p>\n

ExploreBengals training camp begins July 23 with eight sessions open to the public<\/a><\/p>\n

Most would point to the defense as the team\u2019s downfall because of its struggles during a 4-8 start, but Burrow still insists if he had played even a little bit better, Cincinnati could have won more games. An overhaul to the defensive staff told a different story, as even a five-game winning streak to close the season wasn\u2019t enough to push the Bengals into the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of confidence in the defense and the things that they\u2019re doing this this offseason with their scheme and their players and the young guys that we had last year having another year under their belt, so they\u2019re going to be better,\u201d Burrow said Tuesday after the first of a three-day mandatory minicamp. \u201cBut the end of the day, you know, you win and lose with your quarterback play, so I\u2019m going to take that to heart and be better this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

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Credit: AP<\/p>\n

This time last year, Burrow was still feeling his way through his first offseason with a surgically repaired wrist. He made it through training camp healthy for the first time in a while and had no injuries of note during the season.<\/p>\n

More than 18 months removed from his 2023 season-ended wrist surgery, Burrow still doesn\u2019t quite feel like he\u2019s throwing the ball like he was before the injury. He said he\u2019s \u201cgetting there\u201d but still refining his motion.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he could be found staying late after Organized Team Activities and minicamp practices still throwing.<\/p>\n

ExploreBengals top pick Stewart will continue hold out, says team is more interested in winning \u2018arguments\u2019 than games<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJust keep trying to get a rhythm, keep trying to improve the motion, make it efficient,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cYou know, I think I talked about it last year, I still wasn\u2019t quite back to throwing it the way that I expect. So, that\u2019s improved this year and going to continue to improve. So, as long as I keep making those reps, taking the extra time to get that rhythm back, it\u2019ll continue to improve.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another thing Burrow thinks will make a difference for the offense this year is having a full offseason with his top two receivers. Last year, neither Ja\u2019Marr Chase nor Tee Higgins participated, and although a slow start for the offense can\u2019t definitively be pinned on that, it didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati turned the ball over three times and recorded just 35 points combined over the first two games. Chase didn\u2019t have a touchdown or more than 62 yards receiving in either of those games, and Higgins, despite a great training camp, was sidelined by a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely less distractions than last year,\u201d Burrow said when asked how big of a difference it has been having both receivers in offseason workouts. \u201cYou know, those guys are out there working. I know last year they were out there working on their own, not being here. But when you have those two guys, guys that bring energy, guys that make incredible plays day in and day out, and they\u2019re going to grind just as hard as everybody else, that permeates throughout the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The offense doesn\u2019t have distractions. The same cannot be said for the defense, which is missing its star pass rusher. Trey Hendrickson elected to skip the entire offseason workout program while he awaited a new contract.<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

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Credit: AP<\/p>\n

Burrow said there\u2019s no doubt Hendrickson is doing the things he needs to do on his own to be ready if the Bengals \u201chappen to have him this year,\u201d but it is a distraction for the team with so much attention on Hendrickson not participating or even present.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we had two,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cThis year we have one. So, we do have less. You\u2019d love to have none, but you know, that\u2019s life in the NFL. We\u2019re all supporting Trey and would love for him to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrow said the possibility of not having Hendrickson this year is not one that would make the team better. Hendrickson said he will not play on his current deal.<\/p>\n

Ideally, both players and the front office would make a concerted effort to make sure everyone possible is available for the start of training camp, Burrow said, but \u201cthat\u2019s not always realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we got to go out and play better early in the season, and that\u2019s on us,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cWe\u2019ll take ownership of that. You know, I think we\u2019re going to have a plan coming into training camp that\u2019ll help with that and get us a little more ready. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s on us come Week 1.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Burrow and the Bengals brought some extra motivation this spring after missing the playoffs for a second straight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[5270,228,28705,227,256,2296,7,3304,6,767,11374,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-126596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-athletics","9":"tag-bengals","10":"tag-bengals-football","11":"tag-cincinnati","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","13":"tag-cincinnatibengals","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-mens-sports","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-pro-sports","18":"tag-professional-football","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114676040308255108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}