Joe Burrow Enters 2026 as ‘Mean Joe’ — Bengals Starters Set to Play in Preseason Opener vs. Lions

Joe Burrow is walking into Paycor Stadium on Thursday night with something to prove, and everyone in the Cincinnati Bengals building has noticed the difference. The quarterback and most of the team’s starters are set to play in the preseason opener against the Detroit Lions, and reports out of training camp describe a version of Burrow that’s noticeably more intense, more vocal, and by his own admission, meaner than the one fans have watched over the past six seasons.

Burrow enters his seventh year as Cincinnati’s franchise quarterback coming off a 2025 campaign disrupted by a turf toe injury that limited his mobility and forced him into a more stationary, pocket-passer role for much of the season. The Bengals opened that year 2-0 before a Burrow injury and a defense that couldn’t hold up sent the team spiraling to a 6-11 finish. This offseason, Burrow has made it a mission to change the tone before the losing starts, and the shift has been impossible to miss at camp.

Bengals Set Starters Loose Against Detroit

Head coach Zac Taylor confirmed this week that Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Dexter Lawrence and running back Chase Brown will all see the field Thursday night at Paycor Stadium, though only for limited series. “For our fans to come out there, they’re gonna see Joe and Ja’Marr and Tee. They’re gonna see Dexter,” Taylor said, adding that the exact snap count for his starters remains undecided. It mirrors last year’s approach, when Burrow opened the preseason against the Philadelphia Eagles by going 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns, good for a 157.5 passer rating, before adding another touchdown drive the following week against Washington.

That early-season sharpness didn’t carry over once the games counted, which is part of why Taylor and Burrow are treating this preseason with more urgency than in years past. Cincinnati’s kickoff against the Lions is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, the first of three exhibition games that also include a home date with the Chicago Bears on Aug. 22 and a nationally televised trip to Philadelphia to close the preseason on Aug. 28.

The Rise of ‘Mean Joe’

What’s generated the most buzz in Cincinnati this camp isn’t the depth chart — it’s Burrow’s demeanor. The quarterback has openly acknowledged trying to be a louder, sharper-edged leader this offseason. “If something isn’t up to a standard, then calling it out right then and there, maybe a little louder than I have in the past,” Burrow said. “That’s a growth as a leader that maybe I keep doing it, maybe I don’t. I don’t know, but certainly try it out and just try to bring a little intensity to the room.”

Chase has embraced the shift wholeheartedly, giving his quarterback a new nickname in the process: “Mean Joe.” “I like the fire that he has,” Chase said. “His demeanor is just more aggressive. His face is more aggressive, the way he talks is more aggressive, and he’s got a little mean mug on his face a little bit.” National analysts have taken notice as well. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said Burrow has “gone into this year very confident,” crediting the quarterback’s belief that he’s finally moved past the mobility restrictions that lingered after last year’s turf toe injury. Breer went as far as floating a Super Bowl rematch with the Los Angeles Rams as a real possibility if Burrow plays at the level he’s currently showing in camp. Bettors already tracking Cincinnati’s Super Bowl odds will want to watch how Burrow looks in his limited snaps Thursday, and if the growth Breer described translates from practice fields to preseason action, the buzz around Cincinnati’s ceiling this year is only going to grow louder.

What’s Next for Burrow and the Bengals

Thursday’s opener won’t answer every question about a Bengals roster that Burrow himself has called the best supporting cast of his career, but it will offer the first live look at a quarterback who says he’s changed how he leads. Cincinnati’s regular-season opener is still weeks away, giving Taylor time to manage workloads carefully across three preseason games before a Bengals team with Super Bowl aspirations opens the year for real. For now, all eyes in Cincinnati are on whether the version of Burrow they’ve seen firing up teammates in practice shows up in the stadium lights against Detroit.