CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow didn’t play much in three years under Urban Meyer at Ohio State.
But there is still much mutual respect and admiration, so much so that Meyer, as a rookie NFL coach, went to Burrow for advice last spring about how to handle his new quarterback, top overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence.
“I just wanted to talk to a guy who was in that position in recent history,” the Jacksonville Jaguars’ coach said. “We talked several times throughout the spring, just about what I could do – what we could do – to help our rookie quarterback.”
Burrow is the unflappable second-year quarterback who is having a franchise built around him in Cincinnati. Meyer, returning to Ohio for the first time as a NFL head coach with the 0-3 Jaguars, will be on the opposite sideline at Paul Brown Stadium for a Thursday night game.
Burrow came to Columbus as an unheralded recruit in the 2015 class and languished on the depth chart until transferring to LSU and eventually winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship.
Burrow never really got a chance to be the guy at Ohio State, but he credits Meyer with having an important hand in his early development, even if the treatment was at times unpleasant.
“He was really hard on me, and it made me a better player and better person,” Burrow said.
“What he does is, when he gets a new player, he tries to put them in a very intense situation to see how they respond, to see if he can trust that player,” Burrow said. “He really did that to me early in my career. I really wasn’t sure why it was happening. But then as I got older and more mature, I really understood why he was doing it, and it did make me better.”
Burrow in his senior year in high school was voted by writers as the best football player in Ohio. But it was seeing his relentlessness on the basketball court that made an impression on Meyer.
“He arguably has one of the best mindsets I’ve ever seen in an athlete,” Meyer said. “Even when he struggled early in his career, one thing you could count on is, that guy is tough as nails, a competitor. Refused to lose at anything.”
Burrow’s dad, Jimmy, was the defensive coordinator for Ohio University under Frank Solich at the time. Joe was a two-sport star at Athens High in southeastern Ohio.
“He’ll tell you he was highly recruited – he wasn’t,” Meyer said with a smirk.
Burrow had a frustrating three years at Ohio State. When it looked as if he would be in line to back up four-year starter J.T. Barrett in 2017, he broke his hand in the preseason. Dwayne Haskins passed him, won the Michigan game in relief of the injured Barrett and was the favorite to start in 2018.
With his Ohio State diploma in hand and two years of eligibility remaining, Burrow transferred to LSU that summer. He made college football history with his stats in 2019 and became the top overall draft pick by the Bengals in 2020.
STEELERS: Mike Tomlin’s got plenty of ideas on how to fix the Pittsburgh Steelers. Increasing Ben Roethlisberger’s practice workload is not one of them.
Even with the offense sputtering behind a young and at times overmatched line and the team off to an ugly 1-2 start, Tomlin said there are no plans to have Roethlisberger deviate from his usual routine heading into a visit on Sunday to Green Bay (1-2).
The 39-year-old Roethlisberger typically doesn’t practice on Wednesdays during the regular season, an accommodation he’s received for the better part of the past decade. That’s not going to change even with Pittsburgh 28th in scoring, 32nd in rushing and – perhaps most importantly – in last place in the AFC North.
“It rests him and rightfully so,” Tomlin said. “He’s an older guy and the wear and tear of plays affects him differently than younger guys. But also he’s an older guy and he has a volume of plays that most guys can’t pull from that probably requires (them) more physical work and an effort to be ready to play.”
Roethlisberger jokingly acknowledged “everything hurts” in the aftermath of a 24-10 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday in which he was sacked four times, hit several others and threw a pair of interceptions in Pittsburgh territory.
Tomlin is not concerned about Roethlisberger’s health, saying the 18-year veteran is dealing with the normal “bumps and bruises” associated with the game, though those bruises are piling up quickly. Roethlisberger has already been sacked eight times in three games. He was dropped 13 times in 15 starts last season when the Steelers captured the AFC North title.
COVID-19: The NFL is stressing the importance of symptom reporting to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in a video featuring coaches Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh and Ron Rivera.
“It is vital for all players, coaches and other personnel to understand and report symptoms immediately,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo sent to teams and obtained by The Associated Press. “It is also essential for our medical staffs to continue their efforts to monitor everyone in the club environment.”
Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, opens and closes the 2 1/2-minute video. Seattle’s Carroll, Kansas City’s Reid, Baltimore’s Harbaugh and Washington’s Rivera appear to repeat a simple message: “If you feel something, say something.”
More than 93% of players and almost all club personnel are vaccinated.
PANTHERS: The Panthers have placed starting safety Juston Burris on injured reserve with a groin injury, meaning he will miss at least three games.
Burris was injured during Carolina’s 24-9 win over the Houston Texans last Thursday night.
He becomes the second Panthers defensive back to go on injured reserve this week, joining cornerback Jaycee Horn, who could miss the remainder of the season after breaking three bones in his right foot.
TITANS: The Tennessee Titans have put outside linebackers Rashad Weaver and Derick Roberson on injured reserve.
The Titans signed outside linebacker Sharif Finch to the practice squad. Weaver and Roberson going on injured reserve leaves Tennessee with only Harold Landry III, Bud Dupree and Ola Adeniyi on the roster at outside linebacker. Dupree didn’t play last week against the Colts.
Weaver was hurt late in the third quarter with what was called an ankle injury. He was carted to the locker room and using crutches after the game for a reported broken right fibula.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
