Joe Burrow managed to deliver the funniest moment of the day for the Cincinnati Bengals, even as the losses keep piling up.
At a recent press conference, a reporter asked Burrow whether there was anything in particular that had “galled” him coming out of the game. Burrow stopped for a second, clearly not sure he had heard the word right, and asked for clarification.
“That what?” Burrow asked.
When the reporter repeated it - “Galled you” - Burrow still didn’t know what to make of it and fired back with a line that landed with the room.
“I don't know that one. You'll have to bring the Websters out,” Burrow said.
It was a quick laugh in the middle of a rough stretch for Cincinnati, which has dropped two straight after opening the season 2-0.
The skid started in Week 3 with a 30-27 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Burrow was sharp in that one, throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions, but it still wasn’t enough to get the Bengals over the line.
Week 4 brought more frustration at Paycor Stadium. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Burrow completed 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards and one touchdown, but his two interceptions and Cincinnati’s failure to finish a late comeback sent the Bengals to another defeat.
Now the focus shifts to the Miami Dolphins, where Burrow and the Bengals will try to snap the losing streak. Cincinnati needs its quarterback to keep putting up big numbers - and this time, turn them into a win.
In Other News...
Bengals First-Round Pick Is Already Becoming A Real Roster Debate
Shemar Stewart entered his rookie season with the kind of athletic upside that can tempt a coaching staff to keep investing reps, but the Bengals have not been able to get much back from their first-round pick so far. Injuries have slowed his start, and his playing time has been limited enough that he has yet to carve out anything close to a steady role on the defensive front.
Stewarts situation has now turned into the kind of roster conversation teams usually hope to avoid this early in a draft class. Cincinnati still has every reason to want his talent to show up on Sundays, but with very few snaps in recent games, the question is no longer just when he breaks through. It is whether the Bengals can keep waiting for that breakthrough while trying to manage the rest of the season around him. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Is Pushing A Bengals Offensive Change That Still Isn't Working
The Bengals have spent time trying to build more of their offense from under center, a shift that was supposed to add variety and help them find another gear. It showed up in their game plan again before the recent loss to the Jaguars, but as the game unfolded, Cincinnati moved away from it and leaned back on what has long been more familiar.
Joe Burrow said the team is still committed to giving that approach more reps, even if the execution is not there yet. There are other moving parts for Cincinnati too, with Bryce Young potentially in line for more snaps because of injuries among the top receivers, while the defense continues to deal with problems covering and tackling tight ends. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Loss Still Revealed One Encouraging Change On Defense
Even in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that left Cincinnati at 2-2, there was at least one defensively encouraging sign buried in the result. The Bengals got more consistent disruption from the front, with Boye Mafe, Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen combining for 12 pressures as the pass rush showed it could affect the pocket in multiple ways.
Jonathan Allen stood out as the most disruptive piece of the group, leading the defense in pressures and earning the top defensive grade in the game. For a Bengals defense looking for steadier impact up front, that kind of production offered a glimpse of what the unit can look like when the line is winning individual matchups, even if the overall scoreboard outcome still went the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]