Joe Burrow Admits Frustration, Hoping to Power Through Mental Side of Recovery

The 24-year-old suffered a torn ACL in November.

CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow might be fully cleared, but he's still recovering from a devastating knee injury that ended his rookie season prematurely. 

The 24-year-old was honest with reporters when asked about the mental side of his recovery. 

“I just need to get back to being able to feel the people around me as opposed to seeing the people around me," Burrow said. "I’ve always had a great feel for the pocket and feel for where everybody is and it’s just gonna take some reps to get that back. I feel great in 7-on-7, I feel great [throwing] routes on air, all that good stuff. It’s just the team part where I need to get that feeling back.”

Burrow only completed two passes during Friday's session of 11-on-11s. He found Tee Higgins deep downfield and the other completion was a checkdown. 

"It's frustrating right now, more so just not feeling like myself. I know I've put the work in to make my knee feel good, make my body ready for the season. It's just now trusting my abilities, trusting my work, trusting everything," Burrow said. "Just getting more comfortable in the pocket. Today we’re going to have a bunch of people around me in 7-on-7 and individual drills to get that feeling back. That’s the last step for me, get my pocket presence back and understand when I’m pressured and when I’m not. Just getting that whole feeling back that I’ve been really good at for a long time."

The star quarterback isn't worried about the health of his knee. He feels 100%. It's about as many reps as possible so he's comfortable and ready to go when the season starts next month.

"I would say right now it’s a mental thing," Burrow said. "I’m getting back used to playing football again against top level competition. Hopefully a couple more days we’ll get it back to my old self."

Watch his full news conference below.

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