Burrow: Sideline outburst about ‘frustration,’ not Zac Taylor

It happened again Sunday after the Bengals iced off a win at Tennessee with a Chase Brown touchdown to make it 37-21 with just over a minute left, and fans and social media content creators started speculating as to what Burrow was saying, clearly angry, to Taylor.

After the game when he was asked about it, Burrow said he was just frustrated with how poorly he and the offense played. He spent more than half of his press conference Wednesday addressing questions about it as well — when he likely would have preferred talking about the “Battle of Ohio” coming up Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

“I think that we can pick our spots to do that (express frustration),” Burrow said. “There’s definitely discussions had this week about what was good enough and wasn’t good enough from the game. I can probably do a better job of keeping my emotions in check in that situation. Like I said, it wasn’t directed at Zac. It was just ... a display of frustration of the day that I had, that we had as an offense in how sloppy it was.”

Burrow had three turnovers in the game, the Bengals finished with four of them, and the uncharacteristic penalties that popped up in recent weeks continued Sunday with 14 of them for 113 yards.

Much of what cameras have caught live has been Burrow communicating his expectations, and the Bengals simply aren’t living up to them with silly mistakes. Seven of the team’s losses have been decided by a touchdown or less.

“It’s an emotional game,” Burrow said. “I try to be as even-keeled as I can, and when I have to be I am. But when the game’s out of reach and we aren’t doing things that we need to do in my opinion then I’m going to get frustrated. Like I said, we’re competitive people, it’s an emotional game. We’re leaving all we have out there, and sometimes things get a little heated. That’s part of the game. You see that from everybody that’s ever played in this league. Nobody’s immune to it. Nobody gets sensitive or has hard feelings about it. It’s just part of it.”

Burrow said if it was a close game, he would have kept his emotions in check, but because he knew the offense’s day was done at that point in the game Sunday, Burrow let his thoughts known.

Taylor was simply trying to calm down Burrow and remind him to “be happy with the win.” Burrow acknowledged it’s easy to get lost in the adversity of the season and take winning for granted, but he appreciates how Taylor has handled the team throughout it all.

“Everybody’s in a tough spot this year,” Burrow said. “A lot of adversity has hit. Zac is positive every day, comes to work and gives the best game plan possible. We always trust that, as players, the coaches are going to put in the work to put us in the best position to succeed. They work really hard at that. My discussions with Zac have been very productive. I always appreciate when the coaches get up in front of the team and tell us what’s been good enough, what hasn’t been good enough and very clear in that respect. And I think we’ve done a good job in that.”

While the public eye might take Burrow’s emotions as negative toward Taylor, the sixth-year head coach doesn’t mind Burrow holding everyone to high standards. He’s seen that “edge” in Burrow since he’s known him, though it seems inflated this season while Burrow’s career year has gone to waste.

“He’s got an edge to him that is what makes him who he is, and, I don’t want to change that for one second because who he is and what makes him tick is what makes Joe Burrow different from everybody else on this planet,” Taylor said. “… It’s not always perfect between us when we’re out there, dealing with moments, but … anytime something flares up, we move on and move quickly past it. But, when you’ve got a great player, who winning and doing it the right way is the most important thing to him, that’s the best thing you can have from a leader on your football team, that doesn’t accept anything that’s below standard at any moment from anybody.”

Burrow hopes his “championship mindset” has caught on with his teammates, but there’s also an intention about his reaction to getting hit by opposing pass rushers. He tries to get right back up and not let it impact him.

The Browns sacked Burrow three times in the first matchup this season, a 21-14 win for the Bengals in Cleveland, but defensive end Myles Garrett accounted for none of those as right tackle Amarius Mims and a combination of Orlando Brown and Cody Ford at left tackle held him to just one hit. Burrow believes he can impact the game just by not wincing the times he does get knocked around.

“I would say the reaction of the defensive linemen, when you just get popped and you get right back up and get back to work, they get frustrated at that,” Burrow said. “They’re hitting you and you’re not giving them anything.”

SUNDAY’S GAME

Browns at Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1290, 1530, 95.7, 102.7, 104.7