Bengals: Joe Burrow has turned critic Colin Cowherd into an admirer

Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow has turned Colin Cowherd, who was once a critic of his abilities, into an admirer.

Joe Burrow won over everybody within the Cincinnati Bengals’ organization pretty much as soon as training camp began. The reigning Heisman has tenured veterans ready to go to war for him and coaches gushing over his leadership. Now, it appears he’s beginning to change the opinions of even his biggest critics.

Colin Cowherd hasn’t been shy about his concerns for Burrow. Leading up to the draft, the host of The Herd  often made it clear he preferred Tua Tagovailoa as a prospect. He raised questions about the LSU product’s arm strength and doubted his potential in the NFL.

Once in the league, the bashing hasn’t slowed down much either. Back in June, Cowherd claimed Burrow will get “mauled”, win four games, and have a less than ideal stat line.

However, Cowherd reversed course on Friday, giving Cincinnati’s new man under center quite high praise,

"“I’m gonna shift a little bit on Joe Burrow. I’m starting to see something with Joe Burrow that I really like…When I poked Baker Mayfield in the ribs… it bothered him…I’ve been on Joe Burrow for 6 months…He never fires back…He’s not bothered by critics… Joe Burrow gets it… Burrow is all on the stuff that matters… I may just start saying nice stuff about Joe Burrow.”"

Cowherd’s change of heart came after Burrow retweeted his video applauding athletes’ involvement in social issues.

Joe Burrow’s mentality will help him handle the ups and downs of his rookie year

No matter how good Joe Burrow is or ends up being, he’s going to face ups and downs in his rookie campaign. Even the best quarterbacks in the league struggle to begin their foray into the pros. That fact, in combination with the many obstacles presented this offseason, suggests it’s going to be a roller coaster ride at times for the first-year signal-caller.

In the valleys, the critics will be plentiful and the noise will be difficult to block out. As we’ve seen from Burrow’s handling of the Colin Cowherd situation though, he doesn’t seem to mind the doubters. In fact, he seems to thrive off of them.

That kind of mindset will ensure Burrow keeps his confidence and continues to develop in the face of adversity. If he does that, the Bengals should be able to successfully lay the foundation for their future and may just surprise some people by the time the end of the year rolls around.