Joe Burrow said recently that he is close to 100% recovered from the torn ACL he suffered last season, but the former No. 1 overall pick has a lot of rust to shake off before Week 1.
The early reports from Cincinnati Bengals training camp have not been good for those on the offensive side of the ball. Jay Morrison and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic shared some of their observations on Tuesday, and they said Burrow and the offense are committing multiple turnovers almost every practice session. Burrow has struggled to throw the ball downfield, and the way he has been playing makes the reporters wonder if he is nervous about getting hit near his surgically repaired knee.
While practice stats tend to mean very little, Burrow completed just 5-of-12 passes with an interception during the 11-on-11 portion of Tuesday’s session. He did not appear to be on the same page with wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase, of course, played college ball with Burrow at LSU.
Here’s more from The Athletic:
Throws that felt like layups last year are dropping harmlessly away from receivers or easily broken up by multiple defenders. There might be a multitude of reasons for the struggles, but this has been ugly. At one point, pressure pushed into his face and Burrow lifted his leg into the air almost to avoid any accident with the close pocket. It makes you wonder if the knee is still in his head, but that’s strictly guesswork. The bottom line is there’s no way to say his play looks comfortable at this point and this isn’t at all what you have seen from Burrow even in the early camp moments of last season.
Obviously, there is no need to panic. Burrow is still recovering from a major knee injury, and the regular season is five weeks away. Though, Burrow is making it somewhat difficult to believe what he said earlier this offseason about his connection with Chase.
All of the reports about Burrow’s knee injury to this point have been positive. Most quarterbacks who return from a torn ACL experience an adjustment period, so it’s better for Burrow to get his mistakes out of the way in July and August. Bengals fans may simply need to be patient when the regular season begins.
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