Bengals No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow has had a pretty impressive start to his NFL career, throwing at least 300 yards in each of his first four starts, throwing six touchdowns to just two interceptions so far, and notching his first career win as a starter in Week 4.
But your rookie season in the NFL is full of lessons, and Burrow admitted during Week 4 that the Bengals' Week 3 matchup against the Eagles taught him a very important one:
In the NFL, self-preservation is the name of the game.
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Because Burrow got destroyed in Cincy's Week 3 tie with the Eagles.
Burrow was mic'd up during Week 4. Here's the clip of the rookie laughing and talking about taking a beating at the hands of the Birds' defensive line:
Here's the transcription of what was said:
"BURROW, TO A JAGUAR: Hey, I learned from the last couple weeks, y'all ain't hitting me no more. I learned from the last couple weeks.
NFL
"[...]
"REF: You've been doing good, but remember, if you're going down just go down.
"BURROW: Yeah, I'm still learning how to do that.
"REF: I see that. Once you get blown up one time, you'll get down.
"BURROW: Hey, you saw that one last week from -
"REF: Yes I did.
"BURROW: Yep, yep, I'm learning. I'm learning."
Which hit in particular is he talking about? The Eagles did sack Burrow eight times, after all. But I'm pretty, pretty sure he's talking about this one from Malik Jackson, which sidelined the rookie QB for a play:
Aha.
Yeah, that kind of hit will teach anyone a lesson real fast. Good luck, Joe. Barring an extremely unlikely Super Bowl, we'll see you in four years.