Despite a breakout second NFL season capped by an unexpected run to the Super Bowl, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is not resting on his accomplishments.
Burrow and the Bengals have entered preparations for the 2022 season with a sense of unfinished business after coming up just short of earning the franchise's first NFL championship.
To illustrate that point, the league's 2021 Comeback Player of the Year revealed he is taking his personal trainer with him to an upcoming trip to Las Vegas with teammate Jesse Bates, simply because he does not want to miss a workout between now and training camp.
"That is a great message for our team," Bengals coach Zac Taylor told reporters following Tuesday's voluntary practice.
"When your leadership is making those statements, it trickles down to the entirety of the roster. If they want to keep up, they have got to get on that level.
"That is what we want as a team. That is where we want to get to, and we have just got to be prepared when the first day of training camp rolls around that we don't miss a beat."
Burrow enters the summer in a better place physically than a year ago, when he was completing the recovery process from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his promising 2020 rookie campaign after 10 games.
The 25-year-old said the knee sprain he sustained during the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI has not been an issue during offseason workouts.
"I have just been able to focus on the entirety of myself, weight room and conditioning, on field, throwing, mechanics, all of it's not really focusing on the knee," Burrow said.
"It's just getting back to where I was prior. And I've been able to focus on the entirety of myself as a player."
Burrow made tremendous strides in his second NFL campaign, setting Bengals season records for passing yards (4,611) and touchdown passes (34) and leading Cincinnati to its first playoff appearance since 2015.
The 2020 number one overall pick still feels there is room for further improvement and said he is focused on taking his play to the next level.
"Continue to be critical of yourself and the things that you can improve on and continue to raise the level of play of your teammates. I don't think he has any hesitancy to do that," Taylor said.
"That's what's encouraging. You want a guy who's really got the mental makeup of exactly what you want from your quarterback.
"We have extremely high expectations for Joe, but I don't think anyone has higher expectations than he has for himself. And that is a great starting point for a guy that's leading your team like that."
Giants releasing embattled quarterback Daniel Jones
The Daniel Jones era in New York has officially ended.
The Giants agreed to Jones’ request to be released Friday morning, ending a rocky partnership that lasted nearly six seasons.
Giants president John Mara said in a statement that Jones’ release “would be best for him and for the team.”
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organisation, first class in every way,” Mara said in the statement. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The Giants benched Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito during their bye week. On Thursday, Jones told reporters he takes “full responsibility” for not winning more as the captain of one of the NFL’s signature franchises.
After learning of his new role, however, Jones asked the team to be released.
Jones signed a four-year, $160million contract extension before the 2023 season. Jones will go through the waivers process, but teams are likely unwilling to pay the rest of that contract. If he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Giants will absorb a salary cap hit of around $20million by releasing Jones.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and has started 69 games over the last six seasons.
The former Duke quarterback had his best season in a contract year in 2022, throwing 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions and adding 708 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Jones has thrown eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season for the 2-8 Giants and ranks 32nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 79.4 passer rating.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
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