Bengals QB Joe Burrow confirms what was going through his mind during concussion scare vs Giants

It's never a great sign when the quarterback enters the blue tent, but that's what Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow had to do with eight minutes to go in a one-score game against the New York Giants.

Burrow got taken down hard by Giants edge defender Brian Burns and had his helmet slam into the turf. The optics were clear what was happening. The Bengals were testing to see if Burrow had suffered a concussion.

A few minutes later, Burrow exited the tent and went back to watching film on the sideline. Not only did he apparently pass the team's testing, he was surprised it was happening in the first place.

Joe Burrow clears the air after concussion scare

Burrow re-entered the game for the Bengals' final drive and did what he usually does . His 29-yard scramble drill completion to Andrei Iosivas set up Chase Brown's game-sealing 30-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes of action.

He wouldn't have been able to that if he was sidelined with a concussion. When asked about it after the game, Burrow said he felt something different than head trauma.

"They just came and told me that they needed to evaluate me for concussion," Burrow recalled. "News to me. I felt fine. I just had the wind knocked out of me a little bit."

Having the wind knocked out of you and taking a hard hit to the head are usually two different things entirely. Burns did land a hard blow to Burrow's chest prior to his head touching the turf, which is probably what Burrow felt the most as it happened first. Going to the ground likely amplified the feeling.

Burrow finished the game, took part in an of-field interview right after the game, and conducted his standard post-game press conference. He would not have been cleared to do any of that if the team couldn't clear him of showing any concussion symptoms.

The Buffalo Bills just went through this last week with their QB, Josh Allen. Allen took a hit that had his helmet slamming the ground and came back in the game to the skepticism of everyone else. The NFL found nothing out of the ordinary with the Bills' process of evaluating for Allen's possible concussion, and it's unlikely they'll find anything here with the Bengals should they investigate.

Does the NFL deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to head injuries? Probably not. But if you didn't see the hit to Burrow and just saw everything afterwards, you wouldn't have guessed he was previously tested for concussion symptoms. His word can be taken seriously until proven otherwise.

Related: Bengals' biggest overarching problem still hovers over their head after much-needed win over Giants