Joe Burrow took a step back from his sharp postgame line about Cincinnati’s offense, but he didn’t abandon the larger point. The Bengals quarterback said Wednesday that his “we should throw it more” reaction after Sunday’s 22-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars came with some heat behind it.
“I might have been a little emotional after the game,” Burrow said with a smirk.
That comment came after a night in which Burrow put the ball in the air 54 times for 428 yards, while Cincinnati’s ground game managed only 23 yards on 15 carries. When asked after the game whether the Bengals needed more balance, he fired back: “My response to that would be, ‘Let’s throw it more,’”
On Wednesday, Bengals play-by-play announcer Dan Hoard asked Burrow to clear up whether he meant that answer for that specific game situation or as a general philosophy. Burrow leaned into the nuance.
“Obviously you want to have balance as an offense, and the run game wasn't good enough on Sunday, and I feel confident in myself that you put it in my hands and I'm going to make it work,” Burrow said. “Like you said, it’s very situational. When you get into a game like Sunday, and they're a really good defense, really good front seven, I felt like we were we were moving the ball pretty well in the pass game.
“I could have been better in spots to help our guys and not put our defense in bad positions with the turnovers,” he added. “But yeah, we’ve got to be more balanced going forward, and a big part of that is the run game.”
The numbers back up how much the Bengals have struggled to get that part of the offense going. They are 31st in rushing attempts per game at 20.8, ahead of only Green Bay’s 18.3. They also sit 31st in rushing yards per game at 74.3, with only the Packers lower at 58.
If those marks hold, all three of the Bengals’ current rushing numbers would be the worst of the Zac Taylor era. Their previous low points were 22.4 rushing attempts per game in 2024, 89.8 rushing yards per game in 2023 and 3.83 yards per carry in 2022.
The Bengals spent a major part of the offseason building more under-center and play-action concepts into the offense, hoping to smooth out the pass-run split. Four weeks in, it still hasn’t become the kind of lift the team was looking for.
“We obviously have to be better at it,” Burrow said. “We’re still going to stick with it and keep getting reps invested in that.
I think it’s very valuable, so we have to be able to do it. But we need to be better.”
Burrow’s preference for shotgun has been part of the conversation, too. He has generally liked not turning his back to the defense, instead reading pre- and post-snap movement from shotgun. The added under-center work has raised the question of whether the technique itself is affecting him as a passer.
Burrow pushed that idea aside and pointed back to the run game.
“It starts with running the football,” he said. “Under-center play-actions are built off the run game. Teams have to respect the run first and foremost, so you don’t just get jet rushers off the edge.
“That just puts your offensive linemen in a bad spot when they’re trying to sell run, but the defense isn’t respecting the run and just rushing the passer,” he added. “That’s not a recipe for success, so that starts with the run.”
For Burrow, the issue isn’t whether he can handle the new approach. It’s whether the offense can make the run game matter enough to let everything else work off it.
“I’m comfortable doing whatever is needed,” he said.
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 Gave Bengals Fans A Laugh They Really Needed
The Bengals early-season momentum has hit a rough patch, with two straight losses sending the mood around the team from upbeat to uneasy. As Cincinnati tries to reset before its next trip against the Miami Dolphins, Joe Burrow offered a small reminder that not every tense stretch has to stay tense for long.
During a recent press conference, Burrow gave reporters and fans a laugh when he reacted to the word galled with apparent unfamiliarity. It was a light moment in a week when the Bengals could use one, and it briefly shifted attention away from the skid and back to the quarterbacks quick wit as Cincinnati looks to stop the slide. [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 🡒]