Joe Burrow stresses change for Bengals going into 2026

1 week ago 2

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow ended 2025 asking for change.

Burrow said a few other things at his weekly presser before his Bengals finish the season with a matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

But far and away the most important thing was Burrow publicly saying the Bengals need to change some things up.

Burrow kept it vague, otherwise: “Something’s got to change, whether it’s the players we have continuing to improve and get better and playing championship caliber football or bringing guys in that will….obviously something has to.”

But for Bengals fans…it’s really not that hard to figure out, right? Burrow has been hammering this theme in messaging to the front office for weeks.

The change, of course, is largely in the franchise’s willingness to let outside voices into the fray and likely the overall how behind talent acquisition.

Burrow very plainly told the Bengals years ago to stop letting good players go. That was a response to the losses of DJ Reader and Jessie Bates, if not others. The Bengals have since, well, stopped letting good players go, even paying up to keep Tee Higgins.

From here, Burrow has a focus on continuing to be the link between locker room and front office:

"I think my job is to No. 1, play as well as I can. No. 2, continue to improve, and No. 3, be the conduit between coaching staff, front office and the locker room. Relay feelings that players have, relay sentiments in the locker room because coaches and front office, they aren't down there every day and they don't understand a lot of the things that go on in the locker room. So I think quarterback, your job is to relay some of those things." …

Burrow won’t say it publicly, but every outsider observer would likely agree that he shouldn’t need to play perfectly every single down just for his team to have a shot. There was no great excuse for the team’s collapse with him out due to injury, either.

Still seemingly wanting to be the nexus of great change in Cincinnati, Burrow’s sending the obvious messaging to the Bengals. It’s on the front office to receive it, then apply it.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Joe Burrow stresses change for Bengals going into 2026

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