The Bengals hope they landed their long-term answer at quarterback when they drafted Joe Burrow with the first overall pick, but the process of getting him settled into the offense has been less than ideal this offseason.
Burrow hasn’t been on the field with his new team because offseason programs are being conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is doing his best to find the bright side of that situation. Callahan said that Burrow and second-year backups Ryan Finley and Jake Dolegala have been “getting a lot more visual and mental reps” in meetings that Callahan says have gone well.
“Joe Burrow’s been outstanding and so have all the other quarterbacks,” Callahan said, via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s been fun. We really get to talk about a lot of things that sometimes you don’t get to talk about this time of year because we are just meeting a lot. I’m sure they are tired of meeting. I know it kind of wears on you eventually. They’ve been locked in and they’ve been responding to everything. As far as learning it and picking it up, they’ve been great.”
There’s a big jump from college to the NFL and a big jump from the classroom to the playing field, so Burrow and the Bengals still have some way to go before they know exactly how things will play out in 2020 and beyond.