Joe Burrow appears to send warning shot to Bengals after brutal OT loss

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow recently contemplated whether he needs to change his approach as a leader.

Now, he might be mulling something even more drastic.

So went the vibes in the postgame presser from Burrow on Sunday after his five touchdown passes and 392 yards weren’t enough during an overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens in which Zac Taylor made near-unspeakable gaffes.

Start with the basic: Burrow told reporters that the Bengals are “not a championship level team right now.”

A different quote, though, when reading between the lines, feels like it was aimed at defense and special teams needing to uphold their end of the bargain.

“We’re 1-4 … that’s not where we want to be,” Burrow said. “Something has to change. I’m not sure what that is on our end, but we’ll do some critical thinking, watch the tape, and see what we can do better. There’s plenty to improve on. That’s no secret. We’ll treat it just like any other week — come back and get better.”

Burrow also mentioned that some “tough conversations” need to occur.

Burrow had some nice coach-speak in there to massage things, too, like saying he didn’t want to second guess Taylor and that he could be better. But so did his playmakers. Ja’Marr Chase blamed himself for Burrow’s lone pick, saying he ran a poor route, but also hinted he would’ve liked a chance at the ball on the final drive.

And that’s just it — the vibe was different this time. We’re not that far removed from Burrow and Taylor notably going to coaching offices instead of the locker room after a loss, which caused a stir.

Now, it’s fair to wonder where things might go from here if things keep going like this. Burrow will undoubtedly say the right things in public and some of it has merit — his offense has come up short in some key situations. But the defense is laughably understaffed and struggling and questionable coaching decisions aren’t helping in any phase of the game.

If Burrow’s offense doesn’t get some help and some of the same old tired mistakes keep happening, the star quarterback could become even blunter in his public assessments, sending a message to the locker room — and perhaps upstairs at Paycor Stadium, too.