Joe Burrow doesn't want to hear any glowing reviews after Thursday night's preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The star quarterback played two series, tossing two touchdown passes before exiting. He missed his first pass, but finished 9 of 10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns in one quarter of action.
To most of the world, it looked like Burrow was ready for regular-season action, particularly with his connection with Ja'Marr Chase. However, the QB's assessment was closer to one uttered by Eeyore.
"Today was average. Today was average," Burrow said. "But overall, I'm happy with where I'm at. Next week I'd like to be a little better."
Dicing up Eagles backups doesn't give Burrow any satisfaction other than it was simply Thursday's job.
"I think for myself I could have been better," he said after his 157.5 passer rating in one quarter of preseason action. "I missed the first throw. I put all the other ones where I wanted to put them. I would've liked to have spun it a little better consistently today. But we had scored two touchdowns, so go learn from a couple reps and get better."
Burrow pointed to the penalties that plagued the Bengals as something the team needs to clean up before the games count. Cincy commited eight penalities for 68 yards on Thursday.
"We got to be better. Too many procedural penalties, too many errors," he said. "Things like that are going to happen, but I think it just wasn't clean enough across the board."
After legendary slow starts each season, coach Zac Taylor is trying something different, with his starters getting in some preseason reps in hopes of getting out of the gate faster in 2025.
"I think first just the threat of being hit is a big reason why we want those guys out there, want Joe out there," Taylor said. "Because he knows he's not going to get hit in practice. So, I think just for it to feel real in a game, whether he's getting hit or not, I think him having the knowledge that it's possible someone could lose a one-on-one. I get hit on the backside so that a free runner could come in. You can't simulate that rep in practice. So, I think it's good. That's a big part of why we're doing this, and so I think it'll be beneficial for us in the long run."
Burrow and the Bengals' high-powered offense should destroy Philly backups, so Burrow's how-hum attitude is understandable. If the point is to knock off the dust and be ready for action while avoiding major injury, Thursday night was a success for the Bengals' first team offense.
The Bengals defense, on the other hand, has a long way to go.
Philadelphia defeated Cincinnati, 34-27.
