Joe Burrow made quite a stir last week when he said he wasn’t having much fun playing NFL football right now. Everyone (rightfully?) assumed he was talking about the Cincinnati Bengals‘ recent woes and how they’ve been stuck in the mud as a franchise ever since they qualified for Super Bowl 56 almost half a decade ago.
After a shutout home loss at the hands of the rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Burrow clarified what he meant by those joyless comments. According to the star quarterback, they had nothing to do with the Bengals and their general exploits. They were actually all about how Burrow feels as a professional football player in this present moment, with the 4-10 Bengals being a separate entity.
Hmm. I don’t know if I buy that — entirely, anyway — but that’s the line Burrow is going with!
“My comments had nothing to do with Cincinnati.”
– Joe Burrow, on the comments he made Wednesday (quoted post below)#Bengals@WCPOhttps://t.co/Y4qaNYlcdZpic.twitter.com/6wwmyVfyhF
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) December 14, 2025
First of all, how could Burrow’s unhappiness while playing football as one of the NFL’s biggest household names not be related to the Bengals in any fashion? I have a hard time believing Burrow would say something like this if the Bengals were consistent Super Bowl contenders year in and year out. He’d be beaming from ear to ear if the Bengals were at or near the top of the AFC standings.
Winning has a way of curing what ails. Full stop.
On the other hand, Burrow is probably being a good leader and refusing to throw his teammates and coaches under the bus amid another lost season for Cincinnati. I know this is what I would say if I were frustrated but didn’t want to drag anyone down with me. And the unspoken elephant in the room could be that he would, perhaps someday, really consider retiring early, independent of anything that’s happening with his franchise. If the Bengals truly have nothing to do with Burrow’s unhappiness, we have to consider this possibility, no matter how slim the chances seem right now.
But we’ll cross that bridge when and only if we need to.
For now, the Bengals have a miserable franchise quarterback. Even if he’s not upset with them, they should really do everything possible to uplift his spirits. I would advise winning lots of games again, but maybe that’s easier said than done.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Joe Burrow refused to blame Bengals for his joylessness as NFL player
About the Author
