Bengals: Jeff Saturday bashes Joe Burrow for his confidence

Former all-pro center Jeff Saturday bashed the Cincinnati Bengals’ new man under center, Joe Burrow, for his confidence to begin training camp.

While those within the Cincinnati Bengals franchise are certainly loving the boldness that Joe Burrow exudes, not everyone within the football landscape is a fan. In an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, retired center Jeff Saturday bashed the rookie signal-caller for his confident comments in a press conference.

While meeting with reporters, Burrow stated he felt comfortable with the offensive scheme, as well as the receivers he has at his disposal. He even scoffed at the notion of being nervous for the team’s week one matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, asking “You ever heard anything else about me being nervous?”

If you ask former all-pro Saturday, Burrow should slow things down,

"“Nobody in the league wants to hear how comfortable you think you are after two padded practices… Have we won 13 games? What are we talking about?… I don’t want to hear about anybody being comfortable until we do something… Of course you’re comfortable, we’ve been on Zoom calls.”"

On one hand, Saturday’s comments carry some weight, especially after the career he put together in the league. But on the other, it seems that Burrow’s quotes may have been taken out of context.

What was Joe Burrow supposed to say?

Some of the biggest storylines in regard to rookie quarterbacks, especially those that have been selected first overall, revolve around how quickly they can get a grasp on the playbook. By saying he’s “comfortable”, Burrow simply meant that he had a good understanding of the scheme, putting to rest any uncertainty.

That’s a sentiment that’s been shared by his coaches and teammates as well. Earlier this offseason, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan revealed the staff had to ask Burrow to slow down at points because he was so far ahead.

In addition, tight end C.J. Uzomah just made comments about the LSU product’s understanding of the playbook, expressing admiration for his ability to check plays at the line of scrimmage.

Press conferences are mandatory, no matter how young a player is or what they’ve accomplished in the league. Not to mention, there aren’t many other responses Burrow could have come up with. Rest assured, if he said that he felt shaky or uncertain, the backlash would have been far greater.

Besides, that’s not who Burrow is and it’s not who the Bengals drafted him to be. Cincinnati needs the fire and confidence that comes with the cigar-smoking quarterback if they’re going to bring the playoff rains to the Queen City.

Granted, Burrow has a lot to prove, Saturday is right about that. However, bashing him in the way he did seems excessive. Luckily for the orange and black faithful, in just 16 days, the talk will soon be out the window and the conversation will shift from hypotheticals to concrete events.