No Tom Brady, NFL in good hands with young QBs

 Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals drops back to pass in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders during the AFC Wild Card playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium on January 15, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
(Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

“I think Joe has some tools that I didn’t quite have when I was his age, so super impressed by how he’s kinda come into the league, went to Cincinnati — which has been a tough place to play over the years — and two years into his career, after a really tough injury last year, showed a lot of mental and physical toughness coming back and having an incredible season,” Brady said.

“I always love watching quarterbacks, certainly young quarterbacks, because I feel like there’s certain ways to play the game and to play the game at a high level requires a huge commitment. And I think Joe, even when I saw him at LSU, he makes that commitment. It’s a great thing for me to see as someone who has played this game for a long time. Really happy for Joe and his team.”

Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, made a remarkable comeback from ACL surgery during his rookie season to lead the Bengals to an AFC North title and first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years.

When he finished explaining how he gained enough confidence in his knee to start improvising midway through this season, Brady reminded him: “I had a whole career of playing in the pocket, so I was never gonna make too many plays outside the pocket. It’s a great luxury to have, and I will say it’s much safer to be in the pocket than out of the pocket.”

Burrow was sacked 51 times in the regular season and went down nine more times in a win at Tennessee in the divisional round. His ability to withstand the pressure has impressed Brady.

“I love it because there’s very few ways to display toughness from a quarterback because we don’t play at the line of scrimmage, we don’t block, we don’t tackle, we don’t hit anybody. But the way we can show our toughness is to stand in the pocket, make throws and sometimes you get … knocked out …. and you gotta get up and go on to the next play,” Brady said.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws a pass to running back Jerick McKinnon (1) during the first half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo.
(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

“You don’t want to ever show anyone, ‘Man ,he really got me good on that.’ What I love about Joe’s game is Joe does just that. He gets knocked down, he gets up and he’s ready for the next play, and the team gains a lot of confidence in that. The team needs to know the quarterback is going to be there week in and week out. You have tough injuries like ACL injuries and you just can’t. That’s the reality of that injury but there’s a lot of things you can overcome.”