Focused Joe Burrow Knows Bengals Must Beat Cardinals After Slow Start

The 26-year-old wasn't shy when asked about the significance of Sunday's game.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Oct 5, 2023 7:42 AM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow quickly cut off a reporter that was asking if Sunday's game against the Cardinals is a must-win.

"Yes," he said bluntly with a slight head nod. The 26-year-old quarterback has had the worst four-game stretch of his career and the Bengals are 1-3 entering Sunday's game.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks, that's for sure. We're gonna get through it," Burrow said. "We're gonna get through it we got tough resilient guys in there we got mentally tough guys that have been through a lot so we know how to how to handle these situations. It's tough right now. But we're gonna get through it.

"We've all been through adversity whether it's wins and losses, whether it's injuries, whether it's mental health, all that so I'm very confident in our ability to fight through this and get through this and become a winning football team."

Burrow has completed just 57.6% of his passes for 728 yards and two touchdowns this season. He's been playing through a calf injury that has limited his mobility.

The offense has only scored three touchdowns in four games. The star quarterback knows he has to play better and the team has to improve if they're going to turn the season around.

"I’m still very confident in what we have. We have to be better," Burrow said. "How many touchdowns have we scored? We’ve scored three touchdowns? That’s not near good enough. We’ve got a ways to go. But we have the guys in that room to do it. We have the coaches to do it. So we’re going to continue be getting better in practice and put our best foot forward."

Burrow appeared to be moving better during Wednesday's practice and he said it's the "best he's felt" after a game. If he's able to do a bit more physically, it would help everyone involved.

He didn't say it, but Burrow clearly understands that the Bengals' backs are against the wall. They have to beat the Cardinals on Sunday if they're going to have any chance of salvaging the season and being the team that many expected them to be coming into this year.

"We’re just focused on winning this week," he said. "We’ve got to be 1-0 this week. We’ll worry about next week when it comes and worry about the bye week when it comes. I’m laser focused on the day to day process right now and getting better."

Burrow wasn't listed on Wednesday's injury report for the first time this season. He may not be 100%, but he's pushing hard ahead of what is certainly a must-win game for the Bengals.

"Gotta win," Burrow said. "Whatever it takes. Doesn’t have to be pretty but we have to come out with the W."

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