Bengals QB Joe Burrow feels stronger this year going into opener at Cleveland

CINCINNATI — For the first time in his NFL career, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed a training camp that wasn't impacted by any injury or pandemic. That gives the Athens native more confidence entering his sixth NFL season. "I think I'm in a good spot," Burrow said. "I think I've been consistent with my routine, keeping my body right. So just got to maintain that throughout the whole year. This is just the start." Burrow had wrist surgery entering the 2024 season, and he said that he wasn't throwing the ball with the zip that he hoped for last season. With another complete offseason to train, he said that he's excited about the way he's throwing the ball now. Burrow still led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season. "He does it through hard work," coach Zac Taylor said. "This guy works as hard and asks the right questions and does a great job with the communication with the linemen and receivers as much as any human on earth does. He lets no detail go by. He's deadly accurate. He overemphasizes his footwork, his technique, his timing, the location. Everything is just so buttoned up." In addition to the complete training camp that he had this offseason, Burrow enters this regular season with a rare level of continuity around him. Burrow and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes are the only two quarterbacks in the NFL who have more than 10,000 passing yards and have had the same play-caller for their entire NFL careers. While the Chiefs have a lot of year-to-year turnover at wide receiver, Burrow has played with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for nearly his entire NFL career. Andrei Iosivas, Mike Gesicki and Chase Brown have also been in the system for multiple seasons. "I feel like I've seen just about every look that you can get with all of our different plays," Burrow said. "Anytime you are in the same system for that many years you know all the ins and outs, the weaknesses of each play and the plays you can get to attack whatever you are seeing, so I feel like I've just seen a lot of different things in a lot of different situations and can adapt accordingly." One thing left for Burrow to prove is that he can start the season strong. He hasn't done that since 2021. In 2022, an emergency appendectomy led to him missing the start of training camp. In 2023, he battled a calf strain during the summer. Last year, he was still coming back from his wrist injury. Then in each of those season openers, Burrow struggled on the field. Burrow's health in 2025 should help him on Sunday against the Browns, and the Bengals also made tangible changes to start the season on a better foot. "We've got to be on top of everything," Taylor said. "We're a focused team right now. There's an urgency that's ramped up. I'm excited as I see that and anticipate feeling that in practice and get these guys ready to go, get themselves ready to go, coaches ready to go. It's upon us now and we're excited about it." The biggest challenge in front of Burrow on Sunday will be Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, a four-time All-Pro who had 14 sacks last season. Burrow said that Garrett is one if not the best pass rusher in the NFL. "He can win the game if you let him," Burrow said. "You have to, No. 1, game plan around him. No. 2, as a quarterback, you have to be aware of where he's at at all times with protection IDs and also know where your quick answer is in whatever concept you have called. Because sometimes he's back there before you can catch the ball, basically, and you have to get it out… We'll have a good plan for him. He's going to make plays. And when he does, you gotta hold on the ball and not make a bad play worse."