Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Adds More Context, Details to Video of His Sideline Interaction With QB Joe Burrow

Jay Morrison | Dec 18, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor walks for the locker room after the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 13 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. The Steelers won 44-38. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – Sunday afternoon in Nashville, minutes after a 37-27 victory against the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals head coach wasn’t interested in discussing the animated, profanity-laced sideline conversation with quarterback Joe Burrow.

“It was just a conversation back and forth,” he said, leaving it at that.

Wednesday afternoon during his weekly news conference, Taylor offered a little more insight into his interactions with Burrow.

“He's got a competitive edge to him that I balance as a head coach because I'm always trying to lead the entirety of the team and balance things, but he's got an edge to him that is what makes him who he is,” Taylor said.

“And I don't want to change that for one second because who he is and what makes him tick is what makes Joe Burrow different from everybody else on this planet,” he added.

Less than 24 hours after video of the conversation, caught by the FOX broadcast, began circulating on social media, Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said he’s had multiple conversations with Burrow that have looked like that.

Before replacing Brian Callahan as the offensive coordinator and moving up the booth, Pitcher was the quarterbacks coach for Burrow’s first four seasons in the league.

That meant he was the one sitting next to Burrow on the bench going over what each of them were seeing after each series.

And there have been a lot of conversations that looked like the one Burrow had with Taylor on Sunday.

“It definitely happens more than what is perceived by the public,” Pitcher said. “I mean, he and I have gotten into it a couple times. The camera probably wouldn't have been on us because I'm not the head coach. It's just intense competitors. Joe is probably being the most intense competitor I've ever been around, and it happens, man. They probably happen more than what gets reported on.”

What keeps those conversations from escalating is the calm demeanor Pitcher, and especially Taylor, are able to maintain.

As intense as Pitcher said Burrow is, he said Taylor is one of the most competitive people he has ever met.

He just does a good job of hiding it on the field.

“I can’t tell people what to think about what they see in my demeanor,” Taylor said. “I know why I act the way I act. It’s the only way I know how to be. In certain moments I act certain ways, but during a game the only way I know how to lead is through calm.

“It's for myself sometimes,” he added. “As a play-caller and managing a team, and trying to get the message across, that’s all I know how to do it. If I try to change my demeanor for what I think people want to see from the head coach, then I’m going to fail because that's not what has got me here at this point in my life.”

Burrow said that demeanor is what was on display Sunday afternoon.

The two weren’t arguing. Burrow was venting and that everything he was saying was directed are circumstances, not specific people.

Taylor simply was trying to calm him.

“He was just trying to tell me to be happy with the win,” Burrow said. “And I appreciate that about him because I can get lost – just like everybody can – you get lost in the adversity of the season and you can't take winning for granted. I've tried to get better at that, and Zac tries to help me get better at that. And I appreciate that about him.

“It's tough for me sometimes,” Burrow added. “I want to be great. I want us to be great. On offense I want us to be perfect, and if we're not, that gets frustrating for me. I do need to be better at, just if we win, be happy about it. It's hard to win in this league. And I can do a better job of maybe showing that side of me on a Monday and enjoying the win right after rather than letting that boil over on the sideline.”

Taylor indicated that the way Burrow handled it, not the way he wished he handled it, might have been best.

Burrow’s edge and desire to be great are what makes him who he is, both as a person and as the envy of many other franchises.

“Anytime something flares up, we move on and move quickly past it,” Taylor said. “When you've got a great player who winning and doing it the right way is the most important thing to him, that's the best thing you can have from a leader on your football team, that doesn't accept anything that's below standard at any moment from anybody.

“There's teams around the league begging for someone to have that standard, and we've got it, so you've got to embrace that and keep letting him lead the way for us.”

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