Quick Hits | Joe Burrow Returns Because “I’m A Football Player”; Ja’Marr Chase Is “Happy I’ve Got My Friend Back”; Samaje Perine Works Full

Joe Prep

Burrow says he wouldn’t do anything differently on the Sept. 14 play he was hurt, a second-and-20 that eventually broke down into a sack.

“Pocket starts collapsing, and you try to buy a little time. And then I just tried to give myself up and my foot got caught in the turf. Unlucky,” Burrow said.

He thinks he needed two full weeks of practice more for his mind than his body.

“We were going to move up that timeline, and obviously didn’t end up playing last week,” Burrow said. “But preparing that whole week like I was going to play was beneficial. Putting yourself in that mental state to get back into the swing of things, it’s an intense place to be at times. So I’m glad I had that week to feel that before Thursday.”

Actually, his body did feel sore last week, his first week of full practice with the team. Burrow went full Wednesday and Thursday, went limited Friday, and said he felt ready to go last Sunday against the Pats until Taylor waved him off after they talked Friday.

“I think that was a good decision,” Burrow said. “

I was feeling good. Wednesday and Thursday practice happened, I took a lot of reps. My body was pretty sore. Not necessarily my toe. My toe feels great. The rest of my body being back out there for so long.

“I was confident I could get that right to play on Sunday. Zac ended up thinking it was better to wait the extra four days.”

Slants and Screens

Chase bonded with the faithful Sunday watching the game.

“I guess I finally know how Cincinnati fans feel watching the game. It was nerve-racking for me,” Chase said of the 26-20 loss to the Patriots. “Usually when I’m in the game, it’s not nerve-racking, but watching it was for me.” …

Burrow is making his 72nd start Thursday. So, yes, he has been asking Joe Flacco about his 201 starts.

“I think whenever you have a guy that’s played that long, especially a guy that plays so much differently than you do, you can ask him what he thought in a situation or how would you react to this or that,” Burrow said. “He’s played a long time and played at a high level. That’s something I did take advantage of.” …

Backup running back Samaje Perine (ankle) went full go Tuesday night in the longest practice of the short week and they hope to have him after he missed the last two games …

Both Joes, Burrow (toe) and Flacco (shoulder/finger) went full together …

Defensive end Cam Sample (oblique) went limited after missing last Sunday …