Joe Burrow Lays Out Frustrations As Bengals Try To Dig Out of 0-2 for Fourth Time in 5 Years

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has had moments of exuberance when his emotions were on full display.

But when it’s something negative he’s dealing with, such as frustration, he does his best not to let it show.

A few minutes after falling 26-25 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Burrow admitted the loss was “as frustrating as I’ve had.”

When asked why, he said he was gonna have to think about the answer to that.

‘It’s Been a Tough 6-8 Months’ – Bengals QB Joe Burrow Seeking Any Win He Can Find

Thursday afternoon, following practice, Burrow talked about why he said what he said.

“We had our opportunities. We didn’t take advantage in the red zone. There were a couple (instances),” Burrow said. “Obviously, when you lose a game like that, you fixate on opportunities that you didn’t hit. We hit plenty of them. I thought we found a good rhythm on offense.

“When we get in the red zone, we’ve got to punch it in and can’t turn the ball over.”

Burrow said all the things a quarterback is supposed to say about putting the game – and the frustration – behind them, working to get better every day, focusing on the next game, etc.

“I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated right now,” he said. “I was frustrated on Sunday. That was a tough loss.”

The frustration might have faded, but the adversity rumbles on.

Burrow also admitted what a difficult stretch the last several months have been for him, from suffering the season-ending wrist injury just when he was playing some of the best football of his career to the arduous rehab to the good day-bad day oscillation in recovery to yet another 0-2 start.

“It’s been a tough six to eight months and a frustrating couple of weeks, an emotional couple of weeks,” Burrow said.

“Emotional Week 1 because I was just excited to get back out there, and emotional Week 2 because that was a hard-fought, tough battle that we didn’t come out on top, didn’t quite make enough plays to win,” Burrow added.

New PFN #Bengals Podcast!@ByJayMorrison and I discuss the positives the Bengals can take away from Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs before digging into Week 3’s matchup against the Commanders:https://t.co/Yq6uZhWZUp

— Dallas Robinson (@DallasDRobinson)

Burrow had never started 0-2 in a football season until coming to the Bengals. He never even lost two in a row at any point during his time in high school and college.

Since joining the Bengals, it’s almost all he knows, starting 0-2 in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Each year it happens again, he sits in front of the cameras and microphones and preaches patience while urging people to relax.

He said it was one of the many lessons he learned as a rookie.

“When you’re a rookie, and you’re 2-8 (actually 2-7-1) before I got hurt, you learn how to handle those situations and just focus on controlling what you can control and getting better every week,” Burrow said. “So that’s what I try to do every day, just go out and try to improve, and the rest of the team is gonna do the same. And the rest will take care of itself.”

Last year, the Bengals were 0-2 heading into a Week 3 game on Monday Night Football in which the organization was going to induct two more players – Boomer Esiason and Chad Johnson – into the Ring of Honor.

"I'm excited to be the guy on the TV with that kid watching." – Joe on playing in Monday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/73XxKKyNNA

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals)

Here they are again, sitting 0-2 and starting at a must-win Monday night game against the Washington Commanders while Corey Dillon and Tim Krumrie go into the Ring of Honor at halftime.

Burrow didn’t use the phrase “must-win,” but everyone knows 0-3 is close to a death knell for a team’s hopes and dreams.

Since the NFL expanded the playoff field to 12 teams in 1990, there have been 162 teams that started 0-3.

Four made the playoffs (2.4%) – the 1992 Chargers, the 1995 Lions, the 1998 Bills and the 2018 Texans.

Only the ’92 Chargers won a playoff game.

“We’ve got to focus on getting better every day through our practice and go out and execute when we have to execute on Monday, and the rest will take care of itself,” Burrow said. “We’re in a fine spot. We’ve been here before. We’re not panicking. We’re focused on getting a win.”