“Byes Are Pretty Critical”: Joe Burrow Advises Roger Goodell as NFL Commissioner Seeks to Bring 18-Game Season

Ever since the NFL switched from 16-game seasons to 17-game seasons back in 2021, it was expected that soon the idea of an 18-game season would become the talk of the town. Now just a week ago, the league’s commissioner Roger Goodell teased on the Pat McAfee Show that he would like to replace a preseason game with a regular season game. With him showing interest in adding another week to the Super Bowl, athletes like the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, former Eagles player, Jason Kelce, and even the Bengals’ Joe Burrow have shared their thoughts on the potential change.

While an 18-game season could work for some players, other athletes who have been injured might find keeping up with the rather packed schedule a little difficult. In a recent interview with the media, the 27-year-old gave the commissioner some advice about his new season plans. He stated, “18 games is a big ask, that’s not easy.”

Burrow continued that while it would be great for revenue. However, there were certain things that the athletes would need to keep their health in check. The 2020 draft reminded Goodell, “Bye weeks are pretty crucial.” However, he also gave a solution stating, “Maybe you could do something like the first bye, kinda like how we have it now and the second bye, everybody has it at once and you make it like kind of a Pro Bowl week.” The Kelce brothers agreed with Burrow about having an extra bye week on a new episode of the New Heights podcast. However, the reasons might have been a little different.

After all, Burrow’s advice for the commission came shortly after he had finally returned to the field with his team after facing a serious injury during the November playoffs last year.

How Joe Burrow’s injury has healed up

Just a day ago, it was revealed that Joe Burrows had been spotted practicing with the Bengals. Although the 27-year-old had gotten some time off because of a torn ligament in his arm during the Super Bowl last year, he seemed to come back better than ever. During the same media conference, the quarterback was asked if he was still dealing with any pain in his right arm from his injury.

Burrows ended up stating, “I’ll keep that to myself but whenever you have an injury, there’s going to be pain in some spots.” While that might mean the athlete still has not completely healed, there is no way of saying whether it is residual complications or pressure from straining the arm too much during one session. However, he continued to stick by the fact that he “felt great.”

Although Burrow might be back on the field for voluntary workouts, the athlete revealed that he had not yet been cleared for contact. However, he expected to come through in the next month. After all, the 27-year-old has learned to accept that his body now has good days and bad days. Thankfully for him, the last few days left him feeling way better than he had initially expected.

With Burrow going into the new season with a clear focus on his body and health, fans might be able to see the star at his peak for the first time since he joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020.