The biggest storyline throughout Cincinnati Bengals‘ training camp has been the struggles of quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow already had a ton of eyeballs on him due to being a quarterback and returning from an injury that was aided by his atrocious offensive line. Now, however, he has even more attention on him after not looking very good through the first week of training camp.
Burrow knows he isn’t playing to his ability. He spoke about this while addressing the media ahead of Saturday’s practice.
Joe Burrow: It’s frustrating not feeling like myself. Working on trusting himself again.
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) August 7, 2021
I’ve always had a great *feel* for the pocket. Just a little sped up right now. Who I am is a guy who can take a hit and throw with pressure on me. I need to get back to that.
Most of his presser addressed his struggles to this point and how he’s trying to get past it. Joe Danneman included a quote from Burrow where he says he isn’t feeling like himself. He mentions how he’s always had a feel for the pocket but he needs to get back to that.
Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow is frustrated with camp performance
The Bengals offense as a whole has looked lousy during the first week of camp. As Burrow mentioned, there’s no reason to panic just yet. We’re one week into this thing and there’s plenty of time between now and Week 1 when the Vikings come to Paul Brown Stadium.
Burrow did say that he’s not panicking now but if the unit continues to struggle as Week 1 inches closer, then panicking is to be expected.
“As we get closer to Game 1 (vs Min) and this is still happening, the panic button will start off.” Joe Burrow admits frustration, checking his expectations right now. #Bengals pic.twitter.com/q43K2MqFUH
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) August 7, 2021
It’s certainly not fun to see Burrow and the offense not playing to their potential but this is a young team and Burrow is coming off of an injury. It’s a difficult situation to be in and it’s going to take some time for Burrow to get used to playing on his surgically repaired knee.
Right now, all we as fans can do is trust that Burrow is doing everything in his power to get back to being that guy he was at LSU. He has the weapons to do it but we need to see more from Burrow and the offensive line in order for this offense to be the best that it can be.