Transcript: Joe Burrow at the NFL Combine
Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and projected number one overall NFL draft pick met with the media Tuesday morning in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine.
Below is a complete transcript from his media session.
What’s it like being the potential No. 1 pick?
It’s been a crazy six to eight months, however you want to look at it. A lot of hard work went into it and I had great people around me. Coaches… I mean, we had 16 guys here this week. We had talented players all over the field that were mature and worked really hard.
If the Bengals take you No. 1, would you go?
Yeah. I’m not going to not play. I’m a ballplayer. Whoever takes me, I’m going to go show up.
Special to play in Ohio?
Yeah, absolutely. It’s two hours, fifteen minutes from my house. I could go home for dinner if I wanted to. Not a lot of pro athletes could get to do that.
Pressure being the potential top pick?
You know, this process is all about talking ball. The physical stuff, they can see on film. But everyone wants to get to know you as a person and as a player, as far as the mental side. And I feel like I’m really good at that. I enjoy talking ball with coaches. So I’ve enjoyed the interviews so far.
Any reservations on playing for the Bengals?
I’ll play whoever for whoever drafts me. I’m just not going to be presumptuous about what they want to do. It’s the draft. You guys have been covering it for a long time. You never know what’s going to happen.
Talked to Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin?
I have not yet. That will be later, I believe. I’m not exactly sure what the schedule is.
On confirming he wants to be the No. 1 pick and play for the Bengals
Yeah, of course I want to be the first pick. That’s every kid’s dream. I’ve worked really, really hard for the opportunity and I’m blessed to be in this position. So I’m just really excited to be in this position.
Hand size silly?
These measurements, you can take so much for them. If it’s a glaring issue on film with turnovers, yeah, it’s probably an issue. But I didn’t have a lot of fumbles or anything like that, so I just tried to make a little joke about it.
What are the things you learned from the title run that will help you this week?
That’s a good question. You know, it was a grueling season and this is a grueling week. When you play 15 games — I mean, we basically played an NFL season. We were playing into the first week of the playoffs. I think that the length of the season is really going to help me next year. And then, I mean, this is a grueling week. You guys know how it is. We have medicals, interviews, interviews with teams all week. So it’s a long week but I’ve enjoyed it.
What do you want to learn/hear from Cincy?
You know, we’re just going to talk ball just like every other team. I’m excited to get to know what their offense look like, what they see from me, what they see that I can get better at. That’s something I’m asking all these teams when I’m interviewing with them — ‘What can I get better at?’ Because I’m always trying to learn, always trying to improve.
Concern about where you go and the impact on his trajectory?
I think with any quarterback, fit is really important. But you don’t have a lot of say in that in the draft. Whoever picks you, picks you and you’ve gotta go play. I’m going to try to make whoever picks me work. I think that my skill set is really diverse, that can fit in a lot of different schemes. So I’m going to try to be the best player I can for whoever drafts me.
Do you want to force a trade or use your influence to make things happen?
You know, I haven’t really thought about it like that. I was kind of talking more about the combine process. So just so everyone knows, I’m not going to throw, I’m not going to work out. So that’s kind of what I was talking about. But yeah, I’m going to try to be the best player I can be for whoever drafts me and try to fit in any way that I can.
(inaudible)
No, you can’t as a rookie. Hopefully, I can become a vet and influence that process and have some say in personnel decisions like the veterans do now. But until then, you can’t do anything about it.
Did LSU prepare you to be a franchise QB?
I have a little more experience with it than a lot of people because I was a two premier programs and saw guys like J.T. Barrett do it and I did it myself at LSU. I’ve had a lot of different experiences that I think have helped shape my mentality when it comes to that. I think I’m very prepared to be that guy when it’s asked of me.
Something on the Manning Passing Academy?
Yeah, that was a really great week and I made a lot of relationships there. Guys like Jake Fromm, who I’m still friends with now and I first met there. Peyton Manning has called me a couple of time. Archie texts me all the time before every game. I haven’t had any contact with Eli. But Peyton and Archie and Cooper as well have been reaching out to me a lot throughout the year, just telling me congratulations. Coming from a family like that, it means a lot to me. I don’t know if they do it to everyone, but it makes me feel really good when they reach out.
(Can’t hear the question) On learning how to prepare from player
It’s great. The things I took out of that were I tried to ask them about their weekly preparation. I tried to model my weekly preparation after theirs. I took a lot of notes on it and tried to model it into my preparation every week after that.
On NFL team he followed as a kid
I followed a lot of different teams. I lived in North Dakota in first and second grade. I was a Vikings fan. I then moved to Ohio and became a Saints fan, actually. Reggie Bush had just got drafted and I was a big Drew Brees fan. I liked the Saints for a while and then I became kind of a Browns fan eventually for a couple years. I was a bandwagon fan.
Ever envision being here?
Yeah, I did. I knew the work that I had put in. This whole thing is great but the thing that I really envisioned is the on-field success. The Heisman Trophy, all those awards are great, but I wanted to be a starting quarterback. I wanted to be the best player I could be, and I worked really, really hard for it. I had a lot of people who have helped and worked really hard for me.
On if he would’ve played Ohio State in the national championship game
It would’ve been a lot of fun. It would have been fun to play my old teammates. I’m sure there would’ve been some trash talk out there as well.
Have you talked to the Dolphins?
We’ve had informal interviews this week, yeah.
Thoughts on Dolphins?
They have a lot of assets and it seems like they have begun to build a team that can be successful. I don’t know a lot about it. I’m just coming in Year 1 as a rookie. You guys know more about it than me. They seem to be doing the right things.
On two friends who are Bengals fans
My best friends in high school, they are big Bengals fans. If it works out for the Bengals, they will be very excited. Let’s just say that.
On goal as rookie on the field
As a rookie you want to come in and just keep your head down and work really, really hard. I’m going to try to find a veteran who has done it for 10-plus years and tried to mimic what he does. I’m gonna be a rookie, I’m not gonna know a lot of things, but I know how to work. I’m going to work as hard as I can. When my time comes to be a leader and be a starting quarterback, I’ll do whatever is asked of me.
On what he needs to know about Bengals
I want to learn a lot about a lot of different teams. For these interviews, just talk ball. That’s what I enjoy doing. I look forward to meeting with the Bengals here in the next couple of days. I’m looking forward to talking ball and seeing what they are about. Seeing the offense that they run and see how they think about ball. So, that’s what these interviews are about. Just getting to know the people and the process.
Reasoning you’re not working out at combine?
We played a month longer than everyone else and everyone else is training a month longer than us. We played Jan. 13. I took a week off and then got back to training. Everyone else has been training a lot longer, so I feel like I wouldn’t be able to put my best foot forward at the combine. I wanted to wait until the pro day. Add a whole month of training. Just do the best that I could do when everyone’s eyes are on me.
On most NFL-ready attribute
I think my pocket presence is the thing that will translate most. But obviously going into the league you can improve in every area. I’m not focused on one little thing here and there. I’m focused on just improving my game overall. The speed of the game, the concepts, the reads, the defenses are all more complex now. I’m trying to better myself as well.
On possibility of being reunited with Joe Brady in Carolina
Coach Joe brought in a lot of new stuff and we kind of built that offense from the ground up. Him and coach Ensminger. It was a perfect fit from the very beginning. Coach E still called all the plays, but Joe had a lot of input as well. I felt like the best thing we did is did a lot of freedom at the line to make checks, to make reads and just play out there and play fast. It was kind of a perfect fit from the very beginning.
Q: Your Heisman speech. What's been your reaction to the reaction to it?
A: It's been unbelievable. You know, I didn't, I didn't say it get all this outreach to, to the food bank in my hometown but I mean it was a great side effect. it was happening around Christma and I think it helped a lot of people at Christmas.
Q: Did that give you a feeling of the power of your platform?
A: It did. I didn't really understand it before that, and I started to understand it and it's something I've been thinking about a lot -- how I can make an impact on people's lives. And that's something I'm going to continue to do moving forward and hopefully I can do here in the near future.
Q: People took note of your confidence this year. When you hear comparisons to Baker Mayfield, what do you think?
A: The thing about the confidence, I think it starts in preparation and I’m really confident in my preparation. I feel I prepare better than anybody else. That’s why I’m so confident. Because I feel I know what’s going to be happening on Saturdays before it happens. Hopefully I can carry it over to Sundays with the help of the coaches and the veterans. That’s where it starts. I really admire Baker’s mentality. Coming in if you’re the No. 1 pick, the team that’s picking No. 1 is there for a reason so there are going to be ups and downs and you have to stay steady through the process.
Q: Has confidence always been there or was it different this year?
A: No it was there last year. I just didn’t have the platform and nobody saw it because I wasn’t playing as well. I was still preparing that way. I still had that confidence. That’s something I learned from J.T. Barrett who was at Ohio State. He prepared better than anybody I’ve ever been around and was super-confident as a result of it.
Q: What do you think about the narrative about you being skeptical about the Bengals?
A: The only thing I’ve said is that I just didn’t want to be presumptuous about the pick. That’s why I’ve been non-committal because I don’t know what’s going to happen. They might not pick me. They might fall in love with someone else. You guys kind of took that narrative and ran with it. There has never been anything like that from my end.
Q: What did it mean to you the way Ohio State fans still embraced you after you transferred?
A: That meant the world. I gave a lot to that program with my hard work. It didn’t show on the field, unfortunately, but I did a lot of work behind the scenes. For the fans to recognize that meant a lot to me and I really did take notice.
Q: Where did beating Alabama rank in your accomplishments?
A: It was up there but it wasn’t bigger than an SEC championship, college football semifinal or college football national championship. Going into that game, we felt like we should win that game. We wanted to win the national title and if we don’t beat Alabama, we’re not going to win it. So that was our goal the whole year, and that was just another roadblock for us.
Q: What do you think about the NFL draft being in Las Vegas?
A: That would be a lot of fun. You know, I've never been to Vegas before. I might have to hit a couple of casinos while I'm out there.
Q: Unintelligible question.
A: I do think it's my mental capacity in the game. Like I said earlier, I prepare better than anybody else. My physical traits are limited compared to some of the guys here, right, and everyone can see it. So I've got to be smarter, I've got to prepare better and I've got to know what's happening before it happens so I can play fast.
Q: What matters most to you in your relationship with a coach?
A: What matters most is trust. He has to trust me that I'm going to execute the play the way he designed and I have to trust him that he's gonna make the right calls against the right defenses. So that that relationship is really, really important if he's the play caller, and it's just as important if the offensive coordinator is the play-caller because I feel like the quarterback needs to be involved in the game plan. I've always felt if I didn't believe in the game plan, then I wouldn't make it work as well as I could have otherwise.
Q: (couldn't hear question, something about a coach's experience)
A: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing I don't have, right? About the head coach? I think that might be a little overrated. You know, I think if you can coach, you can coach, no matter if you have one year experience or 25 years of experience, so if you can coach, you can coach.
Q: Was there an NFL QB you really followed or tried to pattern yourself after?
A: I always watched Drew Brees. I think he's the best at what he does. We had very similar offenses last year. So I watched a lot of his film in the offseason, and that was my idol growing up. I got to meet him. I met him after the national championship game and I saw him last week and we were just talking ball. And you know, I was trying to be all cool, like, Yeah, I know what I'm talking about. But then on the inside, like I'm talking to Drew Brees about football, so it was really, really cool.
Q: What is your response to questions about your hand size?
A: I think the only thing with the hands is if you have a lot of fumbles and I didn't have a lot of fumbles. So I think it's a non-factor. I don't get paid to talk about measurements and analyze the measurements. I get paid to play football, so that's what I'm going to do.
Q: Would you like to have A.J. Green on the roster?
A: I think with any rookie quarterback, the more help you can get, the better and A.J.'s been one of the best players at his position for a very long time. And, you know if I am lucky enough to get drafted No. 1 overall, I would like to have him on the roster.
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