CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow did something he’s seldom done in Cincinnati as the Bengals wrapped the offseason program Wednesday: He referenced college glory days.
“You go back and watch what I said before the 2019 season at LSU,” Burrow said. “I feel very similarly about this team. I feel like there is so much greatness we are going to be able to achieve this year.”
Burrow’s championship season for the Tigers is among the greatest in the history of college football, yet he rarely makes unprompted comparisons to that team in Cincinnati — even when the Bengals made a run to the Super Bowl in 2021.
The ring, the blowouts, the Heisman, they live as part of his legacy, not his present.
Joe Burrow is ‘ready to roll’ for 2026 NFL season
Paul Dehner Jr.
Yet, here he was at the podium, speaking about urgency, expectations and a journey toward the Super Bowl with a powerful confidence that served as an exclamation point on an ideal offseason for the Bengals.
With that, the pressure is officially dialed to the max for the 2026 Bengals.
For Burrow, that’s the entire point.
“I hope so. I hope so,” he said about the extreme pressure on this season. “I think that’s great. Put pressure on guys. I love it. I thrive in it. We will find out who else does. I know that we have the kind of people that want to be in that spot. I want everybody talking about the Bengals. I want everybody talking about what I am saying in my press conferences.”
There’s a reason, when looking back at the weeks leading up to the 2019 season, that everyone should be talking about Burrow’s press conference on Wednesday.
“He called all of it,” said Brody Miller, LSU beat writer for The Athletic that season.
Miller was among a small collection of reporters on hand at the Manning Passing Camp in Thibodeaux, Louisiana, that July. Burrow saw the collection of talent and the complete reformation of an offense that had previously been viewed as living in the Stone Age for a school known for defense and running the ball.
“I don’t think a lot of people are used to LSU scoring 40, 50, 60 points per game,” he said then. “I think we have that capability. It’s going to be a lot different.”
The mere suggestion was beyond audacious for those familiar with the program.
“Him saying 40-50-60 made people laugh in his face,” Miller said, recalling the moment.
What came next was a perfect season. LSU crossed 40 points in 12 of 15 games and averaged 48.4. Burrow threw 60 touchdowns. The rest is history.
Burrow says what he feels. He can be accused of being overconfident, but not a liar. At one point on Wednesday, he sat forward in his chair, and his energy talking about that year emanated from the dais, emphasized in his body language.
“I am so excited to get started and get moving,” he said. “I wish we would ramp this right into training camp so we can continue to improve, because I feel like there is so much greatness we are going to be able to achieve this year.”
The Bengals added significant pieces across the defense. All 11 starters are back on offense. The coaching staff has continuity. The veterans immediately asserted themselves into leadership roles. And Burrow sees the most talented, deepest roster constructed since his arrival.
“We’re deep at just about every position on the team,” Burrow said. “We’ve talked a lot this year about (how) in years past, we wondered who was going to make the team; it was top-heavy. This year, it’s guys that were once at the top level that were on the team for sure; now there’s a lot of competition for those spots at the end of that list. It’s the first year that’s really the case, in my opinion. It’s an exciting place to be where you have too many good players. It’s our job to try to find ways to make this work, build that trust and build those relationships.”
That’s where the major adjustment came for the face of the franchise this year. With the pieces in place, the major obstacle was building chemistry that separates the good from the great. Chemistry didn’t come together in three consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs, including distractions and disjointed locker rooms turning seasons into circuses.
So, what did building team chemistry mean for Burrow? More jokes, more dinners, keeping things loose to foster friendships?
Nope. Not this time.
“I think the opposite,” he said. “I think this offseason I really focused on trying to bring urgency to the room and try to just get everybody to understand the level of urgency that we have this year; the level of play that’s going to be required from every individual who steps on that field. I’ve tried to communicate that. I’ve tried to be a little more vocal in a mean way.”
Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher balked at Burrow calling his leadership style “mean,” but that might just be a matter of semantics.
“I think blunt and immediate is how I would describe some of the feedback that he has given his teammates,” Pitcher said. “That can be an effective leadership style if you are comfortable using it and you use it judiciously.”
Burrow, known throughout his career for speaking rarely but with when he does, adjusted on the fly.
“I think that’s a little out of my comfort zone, but that’s somewhere that I’m improving,” he said. “Maybe it’s good and maybe it’s bad, but we’ll find out.”
Burrow said he soaked in the opinions of other leaders on the team, across both sides of the ball. That includes new defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, admitting they’ve “been kicking it a lot.”
The defense notably lacked leadership last season, and that was targeted with the additions of Lawrence, safety Bryan Cook and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.
All those conversations helped Burrow understand what was needed to bring this team together.
That doesn’t always involve unicorns and rainbows. In this case, the answer involved truth and pressure.
Joe Burrow is healthy this offseason after missing several games in 2025 with a toe injury. (Katie Stratman / Imagn Images)
Burrow found himself spending more time with Tom Brady off the field, and now he looks to be emulating the same aggressive leadership evolution he famously embraced on the path to seven rings.
Not to say Burrow’s priorities were afoul or he didn’t voice his opinion in recent years, but the emphasis on this tweaked style of leadership leaves a palpable impact on a room constructed differently than the upstart Bengals full of young players that barnstormed their way to Super Bowl 56 five years ago.
“Early in my career, it was a lot easier,” he said. “We had a really young team. A lot of us had come in together and been through it together. Now we have so many varying ages on the team from guys that we’re counting on — and we’ve brought in some veterans too, that certainly has made it easier — but building trust between a 21-year-old, first-year player and a 31-, 32-year-old, nine-, 10-year vet, that’s a difficult task and the job as a quarterback to try to bridge those gaps where you can. That’s something I’ve focused on. I think if you want to be a championship-caliber team, then you have to build those relationships and build that trust, so you know you can have hard conversations about things that are going on on the field, as well as off.”
Put simply, Burrow’s turning 30 this year, and he isn’t messing around. He’s getting mean.
“I’m just trying to bring urgency to every room that I step in and try to foster an environment of improvement,” he said. “If something isn’t up to a standard, then calling it out right then and there. Maybe a little louder than I have in the past.”
Burrow found that teammates’ responses have been positive, despite the aggressive approach.
“We have a lot of guys that want to be better,” he said.
All of this draws back to the building pressure cooker and why he’s comfortable referencing 2019 LSU. The urgency, the momentum, the expectations, the talent, the attitude, the weapons all point to potential for a similarly special season.
Burrow feels it. He sits up in his chair just talking about it to the point that he was not afraid to call his shot once again on Wednesday.
He’s not merely embracing the pressure; he’s cultivating it.
“That’s growth as a leader,” he said. “Just try to bring a little intensity to the room.”