"I would say the media all around the event is a little exhausting, but once you're actually there, it's just very private, and that's hard for me to come by these days," Burrow said. "So the more opportunities that I can try to have a normal dinner party, a normal dinner … just around good people, the more opportunities I'm going to take."
A reason for everything.
You can rest assure that his privacy won't be attacked in Quarterback. If Peyton Manning hadn't been involved in the show, he says, he probably wouldn't have done it.
"He's going to protect me, protect our team, protect our organization," Burrow said. "I have trust in him for saying that and trust that he's going to do that."
More bottom line. Despite all the lights-camera-action hoopla surrounding the July drop, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor hopes the series shows what makes guys like Burrow great. You have to be around him every day, Taylor says.
Like backup quarterback Jake Browning. He agrees with Taylor on what makes Burrow Burrow. You can even see it, Browning says, during these days of installation and technique where the offense only sees the defense in team meetings.
"Process," Browning says. "The number of times he goes to the right person on time and accurately. He processes so quickly. Before and during the play. He has an above-average arm, but I wouldn't say it's crazy. He's an above-average athlete, but not crazy. He's really accurate. But the thing he does is process really fast. And to me, that's the toughest thing to evaluate in a quarterback coming out of college."
One of the newest Bengals, vet guard Lucas Patrick, has played with all sorts of NFL quarterbacks. Last year in New Orleans, it was journeyman Derek Carr in the season before he retired, as well as rookie Spencer Rattler losing his first six pro starts. And then there was a guy in Green Bay.
"I was there when Aaron Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs," Patrick says. "It would be cool to watch another MVP again."
He'll have to watch Quarterback first.
"Do I get a cameo in Quarterback?" Browning asks Burrow, clearly joking.
That seems to be a mystery, as many things are with Burrow, making him one of the most interesting people in sports. But there's no mystery here. Burrow is back as serious as ever.
"Little nuances where he gives guys adjustments," says Patrick, seeing it all for the first time. "We were installing something one day. And he went into detail exactly what he wanted and what he's seeing and how that affects the front. It's pretty impressive."