"I was fired up, obviously," said Burrow.
Burrow further commended the front office for making a rare, high-impact NFL trade to silence public and media criticisms.
"The front office has taken a lot of heat from the fans, the public, the media. We can put all of that behind us.
They went and made it happen with free agency … We don't know a ton about these rookies yet, but it seems like they brought the right kind of guys in.
And then obviously with Dexter, making a trade like that, that doesn't happen a ton in the NFL.
So it's exciting to see," said Burrow.
Burrow also touched upon his reduced involvement in personnel decisions this offseason, acknowledging past collective shortcomings while embracing the elevated energy in the locker room.
"I was less involved this year than in years past," said Burrow.
Beyond personal statistics, Burrow voiced his long-term ambition to act as an organizational ambassador to elevate the global profile of the franchise.
"The first couple of years, when you see how the league pushes certain teams and puts certain teams in big spots," said Burrow.
When informed he is 48 touchdowns away from passing Andy Dalton's Bengals franchise record, Burrow expressed absolute confidence in reaching that milestone this year.
"I'm pretty close to the Bengals franchise touchdown record.
I think I'm 50 or something away, so that would be nice to break this year," said Burrow.
Burrow reacted with supreme confidence when learning that exactly 48 passing touchdowns would break Dalton's career mark of 204.
