Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s return from a torn ACL hit a milestone last week when he took part in organized team activities.
Burrow said he was “out of the hardest part” of a rehab schedule that is expected to have him ready to go for Week 1 in September. That physical rehabilitation isn’t the only work that Burrow has been doing since he was injured in Week 11 last season, however.
The time off also afforded Burrow a lot of time to look back at his play as a rookie and find areas he wants to improve in his second NFL season. Burrow shared one of them with Albert Breer of SI.com.
“There was some good and some bad,” Burrow said. “I’d like to be more explosive. And I think I was really good in quick-game situations. On fourth down, we were really good. Empty, we were really good. But we need to be more explosive with play-action passes. All of our downfield passing needs to improve. I just wasn’t as accurate as I was the year before down the field. And that was frustrating to me, because I’ve always been a good down-the-field thrower. Just getting back to the basics of that, really focusing on my fundamentals. I just started running and throwing a few weeks ago, so standing and throwing, and focusing on the fundamentals helped.”
Burrow worked to strengthen his hips to gain “a ton more velocity on my ball” in his bid for more explosiveness in 2021. As long as all remains on track in the coming months, we’ll be able to see the results of that work on the field to start the season.