Joe Burrow on Bengals' Matchup With Denver Broncos, Mindset Going into Must Win
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It is. We've played and we've had a lot of those last several weeks.
00:06It feels good to play in big games.
00:18Yeah, that's why you work so hard. You want to play in these kinds of games that matter at the end for the postseason.
00:24So hopefully we can go out and get a win and put ourselves in a good spot.
00:30You've played your way into meaningful football and you're kind of out of playing meaningful football for a while.
00:37We just won three in a row. That's all that it means.
00:40We work hard to go out and perform well on Sundays, so it's nice to put together a string of good performances in a row and hopefully that continues.
00:52We do a lot of different things. You can tell that they're well coached.
00:56They make it tough on quarterbacks, playing so many different coverages and bringing a lot of different blitzes and doing a bunch of different things.
01:04They've got a lot of defense, so you as a quarterback have to prepare that way.
01:11Is there any quarterback now, through the years, where you wanted to emulate their cadence or like the way they did their cadence?
01:17Is there anybody you took note of that?
01:25Not really. Cadence is a big weapon.
01:29I guess the guy that comes to mind would be Aaron Rodgers.
01:32He's been known to get free plays for his whole career.
01:37I think that's something that I'd like to be known by too.
01:41I think I've taken a step in that department this year.
01:44Do you listen to him? Do you like to actually listen to him?
01:46No, I don't think you do it that way.
01:50It's not just the quarterback involved. It's everybody.
01:55Understanding each play and what we want to do with the cadence on each play.
02:01When making fake calls, demeanor, a lot of different things go into it when you're changing up the cadence.
02:15I think the more football you play, the more you start to focus on little things like that that can really make a difference.
02:23I'm just going to carry on stuff like that. All the little crafty things that go towards being a truly great player.
02:28I think that's what separates the great players from the good players.
02:31How old were you when you realized that cadence could be a weapon?
02:34I don't know. You watch it growing up and you see people do it like Aaron.
02:42What makes Sir Tan so dangerous?
02:45He's so patient when he's covering people.
02:48He never panics. He uses his length and his size to his advantage.
02:52He makes it tough. He's always around the ball.
02:56He's never just going to be super clean.
03:00He's going to make you make a great throw and catch.
03:04Those are the guys that are tough to go against.
03:06Several weeks ago you were asked about quarterbacks you like to watch.
03:09You brought up Bo Nix, which I think surprised many of us at the time.
03:14What is it about him as a rookie that's caught your eye?
03:18It looks like it's moving slow for him out there right now.
03:21I've had a chance to watch them on TV a couple times this year.
03:24They do a good job on offense, running the ball, play action.
03:28But then when he's asked to drop back and make plays, he seems to consistently make them.
03:35I think he's got a much stronger arm than people thought.
03:39I think he's playing really good football right now.
03:43The way he moves out of the pocket seems to be kind of like a veteran.
03:48Is that caught your eye at all, the way he moves around?
03:51He's definitely athletic and uses that.
03:53We'll continue to learn how to use it.
03:55This is probably a more unique matchup for you given that you've known Bo for so long.
03:59You've seen him build his way into the positions he's in now.
04:04I'm not sure I would say that.
04:07It's always nice to see guys that you've played against.
04:11I played against Bo when he was a true freshman at Auburn when I was 2018, I guess.
04:20It's always nice to see guys that you've competed against and known for a long time
04:24continue to improve and put themselves in a good position to have a good career.
04:29Was the throw-to-sample almost even crazier than the touchdown to T?
04:33Yeah, I liked that one. That one was pretty cool too.
04:36I didn't really realize it in the moment, but that one was pretty cool.
04:39Was it a legit no look?
04:41It looked like your back was to him before he even caught the thing.
04:46Well, I was getting twisted to the ground.
04:50I knew where he was and just kind of flipped it over the shoulder.
04:55He's been doing a great job of making himself available in those types of situations.
04:59I think Drew's really taking a big step this year doing that kind of stuff for us.
05:05Were you a double assist guy per game at Athens in basketball?
05:08I was a scorer.
05:11You and Coach Payton were both in New Orleans.
05:14Did you ever have an extended time conversation with him?
05:16No, I've never met him.
05:19Is this Denver defense got as much team speed, overall team speed,
05:24as any that you've gone against this year?
05:26You fill it up with their defensive line.
05:29They're explosive and athletic up front.
05:32You have to counter that with scheme and then, for myself,
05:37understanding when I can get up and get out of the pocket
05:41and make them stay consistent in their rush lanes.
05:46Is Sertain the best scorer you've faced this year, do you think?
05:49I felt that way when we played him in 21.
05:55We'll find out on Sunday.
05:57We've played some good ones this year, but I have a lot of respect for him.
05:59How much are you and Jamal and the offense looking forward
06:02to a test like this?
06:03You all have really great memories this year,
06:04but to do it against a defense like that,
06:06do you guys feel like that would say something extra
06:08about how good you all were offensively this year?
06:11Yeah, we've played a lot of the top defenses in the league
06:14and consistently put together good performances against them.
06:20I always have a ton of confidence in our guys.
06:25Each defense presents its own challenges.
06:29You take that week by week, and we'll have a good scheme
06:33and we'll be ready for it.
06:35The face plant, touchdown is something you can't practice.
06:39What are the weirdest things you do practice?
06:42Do you do lefty throws behind the back?
06:46We've practiced lefty throws before a couple years ago.
06:49Never pulled that one out.
06:52But I've been in that exact same spot a couple times this year in games
06:57and haven't quite connected on the throws.
07:01So I've got reps of doing that.
07:06Just putting your body in weird positions
07:08and having to use different parts of your body
07:11to get enough velocity on it.
07:14This is the most I've ever really done that,
07:17so we kind of learn it on the fly.
07:20But the more I did it early in the year,
07:22the better equipped I was to execute it later in the year.
07:26You saw that on Sunday, I think.
07:27Is that a core strength throw?
07:31Yeah, that's something that I work really hard on.
07:34I think whenever you're in a position like that,
07:40one, you have to use your body's momentum
07:42to understand how to get it off,
07:45and you have to put your arm in a position
07:49to keep it from just going right into the dirt.
07:53So you have to understand when you're going to hit the ground,
07:58how your upper body's going to move,
08:01and you have to calculate that
08:03depending on where the receiver is.
08:06So like I said, the more that I'm doing that this year,
08:10the better I'm going to be at it
08:12because you bank those reps
08:14and you understand more and more of those kinds of things.
08:18Not just strength, but flexibility.
08:20I mean, when you arch your back like you did,
08:24keep your eyes down the football field,
08:27your workout not only increases your body strength
08:30but your flexibility as well.
08:31Is it a 50-50 deal there?
08:34Yeah, definitely.
08:35I think I put a lot of work into being strong
08:39in all different kinds of body positions in the offseason.
08:46Me and Dak, we work because that's how you prevent injury.
08:50You put your joints and your body in positions
08:54that you're probably going to be in in a game.
08:56When people are on you, you're falling down,
08:58and you try to strengthen in those positions.
09:02As you get stronger in all those kinds of areas,
09:09then you can start to make plays like that.
09:12Did your quarterback, Peters, reach out and say,
09:15dude, that one was sick?
09:17No, no, never got any.
09:20That's all right.
09:21Which one were you more proud of,
09:23the jump pass or that one?
09:28I think the jump pass.
09:30Joe, you made Christmas special for your alignment.
09:33Your foundation has made Christmas special
09:35for a lot of families here in Cincinnati.
09:38What was the most special Christmas for you
09:40if you think back?
09:45Whenever my brothers came into town
09:47and I was able to spend it with them.
09:49Christmas was always a little different
09:52because sometimes you were in a bowl.
09:54My dad was in a bowl game around that time,
09:56so sometimes we were traveling.
09:57Sometimes it was Christmas in the hotel.
09:59Sometimes you got to be at home.
10:01Whenever my brothers were able to come into town
10:03and spend it with them, that was always my favorite.
10:06What's the best bowl trip vacation you've had?
10:12There was one in high school that was in Alabama.
10:16It might have been the...
10:19I forget which bowl game it was, but it was in Mobile.
10:23I think I broke the Pac-Man record in the bowl game area.
10:27That was cool.
10:30I think it's been about a month
10:32since we've asked you about your wrist.
10:35Has it gotten to the point where maybe a day or two goes by
10:37where you don't think about it at all?
10:40I'm not thinking about it a ton right now.
10:43I think we're pretty much past it.
10:47There's still arm care and things that I do to help with that,
10:52but we're in a good spot.
10:55What's the key to getting the highs going back?
10:58Get away from the ghosts, man.
11:01How often do teams travel dramatically?
11:04They take one guy and just follow him.
11:06How often has that happened?
11:10It hasn't happened a ton this year.
11:13Pittsburgh had a plan.
11:15I think that plan was more matchup-oriented with T.
11:20They wanted the longer, bigger guy on T.
11:24It hasn't happened a ton, I would say.
11:28Pinchell was saying the reason you've been so good
11:30in making money pockets and trying to get you guys off you
11:32is that core strength.
11:33Is that something you became cognizant of at a certain point?
11:36It's kind of, hey, if I'm going to deal with tight pockets
11:38and congestion, this is something I've got to get better at.
11:40How does that become maybe a point of emphasis
11:42for you in the offseason?
11:44That's just always been a point of emphasis for us in the offseason.
11:47Playing quarterback is all about core strength,
11:49and that's how you get the velocity on the ball.
11:53If you don't have your feet set or if you want to break tackles,
12:00you want to have your pocket movement be as good as mine is,
12:04and you have to train your core in a lot of different positions.
12:09We work that every single day in the offseason,
12:14and it just continuously gets better every year as we grow
12:17and get stronger and understand what we want to work on.
12:21So it's nice to see that showing up.
12:24What role can the crowd play Saturday night
12:26the fact that this is here and not in Denver?
12:29It's always harder as a quarterback when you're playing on the road.
12:33You can't communicate the way that you want to,
12:35and you can't use the cadence to the level that you want to
12:38because of the crowd noise.
12:40So we need everybody to show up on Saturday and give us their best.