The national media made a huge mistake and Bengals QB Joe Burrow is going to make the rest of the NFL pay for it

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow doesn't need motivation to perform at a high level.

But if there's something that can be used as motivation, Burrow isn't going to let it go to waste.

"That's part of this game, part of being a competitor," said Burrow during the 2022 playoffs. "Whether it's football or basketball or baseball or any sport, you're going to find any little thing you can. Whether it helps or it doesn't....whenever you can find some little thing externally, you might as well use it."

This past offseason, Burrow received plenty of motivation from the national media.

And it sounds like the former LSU star fully intends to use that motivation this season.

Burrow had to hear all offseason how he's "injury prone" thanks to some terrible luck that's followed him around during his first four seasons in the NFL.

This past season, Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury that essentially kept the Bengals out of the playoffs (credit to Jake Browning, though, he competed and gave Cincy a chance).

The wrist injury is the latest in a laundry list of freak injuries that Burrow has suffered since getting drafted by the Bengals in 2020 -- a torn ACL in 2020 which limited him ahead of the 2021 season, a ruptured appendix before the 2022 season, and then a calf injury before the 2023 season.

Those are nothing more than freak injuries. But that didn't stop national analysts from suggesting all offseason that Burrow is injury prone.

On Wednesday, just a few days before Cincinnati's season-opener against the New England Patriots, Burrow told reporters that his motivation level is "high" entering the 2024 season, in large part because he's eager to prove that he's even better than he was before his wrist injury.

"Whenever you're coming back from injury, you feel like you gotta come back and show not only that you can do what you did prior to the injury, but also that I've gotten better," said Burrow. "I'm excited to go out and show the work that I've put in over the last eight months...it's been a long time coming so we're ready to go."

The greatest competitors of all time often used outside noise -- specifically from the media -- as motivation. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were notorious for it. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes falls into that category, too (Mahomes was not pleased with being considered an "underdog" in the Super Bowl last season).

Even former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, arguably the greatest head coach of all time, has advocated for using outside noise as motivation.

A motivated superstar is dangerous. And it's clear that Burrow is extremely motivated entering the 2024 season.

I have a feeling we're going to see Burrow take out a lot of frustration on some opponents this season as he looks to prove that the "injury prone" label that's been placed on him is nothing more than nonsense.

Buckle up, the 2024 NFL season is going to be a fun as hell ride.

Related: Joe Burrow's parents detail the 2 loudest NFL stadiums they've seen their son play at