If the Cincinnati Bengals' wildest hopes and dreams are going to come true in 2025, it'll be because Joe Burrow strung together another season to state his case as the best quarterback in the NFL.
In order for that to happen, Cincinnati's face of the franchise obviously has to stay healthy. That's proven elusive at times in Burrow's otherwise phenomenal career. A recent collision in camp practice caused a scuffle to break out, but thank goodness Joe Brrr emerged unscathed.
Rather than blowing the incident out of proportion, Burrow's leadership continued to shine through in the way he responded to the situation.
Shemar Stewart encouraged by Joe Burrow after apologizing for accidental collision
Rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart is going to be depended upon in a big way this season. That's true whether or not Trey Hendrickson finally gets that pesky contract dispute resolved.
It was Stewart who accidentally hit Burrow when he wasn't supposed to, leading to a minor fight on the practice field. Once again, Burrow was fine after being knocked to the turf. Rather than hammer the first-year pro for his blunder, the savvy field general saw the silver lining instead.
Stewart shared what Burrow said to him upon apologizing for the whole mess (transcription edited for concision and clarity):
"You don't want to have that on your conscience, knowing that you could possibly get your quarterback hurt..I went over to apologize, you know, no bad blood, making sure he knows that it was an accident and nothing intentional. […] I said, 'Joe, it's an accident. I never wanted to do that.' He was like, 'It's cool — as long as you do it on Sundays, too. So we kept it cool, short and sweet, and we just forgot about it."
Shemar Stewart apologized to Joe Burrow, for hitting him during practice Wednesday.
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) August 15, 2025
Shemar Stewart:
“It was an accident.”
Joe Burrow:
“It’s cool, as long as you do it on Sundays too.”#Bengals @WCPO https://t.co/VMatfI3QsJ pic.twitter.com/dATsWRfkzT
Burrow had the wherewithal to recognize the positive that Stewart was causing disruption as a pass-rusher. That's the type of juice this Bengals defense desperately need from anyone outside of Hendrickson.
While it's a little discouraging that Stewart couldn't control himself in that situation, he rectified the mistake furthermore on Friday,. When he screamed in off the edge to get a would-be sack on Burrow, Stewart "did a little matrix" of a maneuver to avoid contacting the most important Bengal as he told to WCPO's Caleb Noe.
So not only did Stewart get back in his QB's good graces. He showed that, at least in this instance, he could learn not to make the same mistake twice. That's critical in any NFL player's development, especially someone as youthful and explosive as the 21-year-old out of Texas A&M.
There's almost no telling what Stewart's upside is. He is looking worthier of the 17th overall pick by the day. I personally wasn't thrilled with it on draft night, since he managed only 4.5 sacks in three seasons of college ball even with his elite physical tools.
We'll see just how soon Stewart can capitalize on his skill set and whether it'll translate to Sundays here very soon. He should have ample opportunities. Putting Burrow in some form of practice peril and redeeming himself thereafter shows that Stewart has that dawg in him and can rein it in when the situation calls for it. That makes me all the more bullish on his rookie campaign.