CINCINNATI – There was a lot of discussion about Joe Burrow’s animated conversation with Zac Taylor late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 37-27 win over the Titans.

Burrow addressed countless questions about his sideline behavior, his leadership, the meaning of the conversation and more during his 21-minute press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Here are the five most interesting things he said about the exchange with Taylor:

Hopes teammates notice

Burrow hopes his teammates noticed his frustration.

“I hope so. I haven’t had such direct discussions yet. But I always try to have a championship mentality,” Burrow said. “If things are good and good enough to do what we want, then that’s what I try to express. If I think things are not up to standard, I try to express that.”

He made it clear that Sunday’s 37:27 win did not meet their standards. The Bengals had 15 penalties and had four turnovers in the game.

“I just hold myself and our team to a high standard. I expect great things from us,” Burrow said. “If it’s not, I’ll be frustrated. If it’s not my own, if it’s not everyone’s, I get frustrated.”

Not directed at Taylor

Burrow yelled at Taylor, but his message wasn’t aimed at the sixth-year head coach. He was frustrated with the entire game and the team – starting with himself.

“It wasn’t directed at Zac. It was just a frustrating expression of the frustration of the day I had that we took as an insult because we were so sloppy,” Burrow said. “We’ve had these conversations internally and talked about what needs to be better.”

Taylor’s message

“He just wanted to tell me to be happy with the win,” Burrow said. “That’s what I appreciate about him because I can get lost – just like anyone else – you get lost in the adversity of the season and you can’t take a win for granted.”

Burrow completed 26 of 37 passes for 271 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for me. I want to be great. I want us to be great,” Burrow said. “Offensively, I want us to be perfect, and when we’re not, that’s frustrating for me. I just have to be better when we win and be happy about it. It’s hard to win in this league. And I might do a better job of showing that side of me on a Monday and enjoying the win straight after, rather than letting it all boil over on the sidelines.

Playing time was important

The Bengals had to call several penalties on their last offensive possession. Burrow didn’t like that.

In the end, Cincinnati scored a touchdown to take a 37-21 lead and end the game, but Burrow was frustrated by the penalties.

“I think a lot of different things came into play. If it’s a close game and you stick with it until the end, I don’t react that way in that situation,” Burrow said. “What usually happens is when I get so frustrated, I get frustrated with my own starting mistakes and then we’re in control of the game against a team that feels like we’re better than. If we don’t live up to my level.” Against a team like that, you have the luxury of being a little emotional on the sidelines in that situation because the game is out of reach. You don’t have to go out again to make a play to win the game.

Burrow doubled the timing of his outburst. If the game had been close, he would have focused on winning. Once the game was won, it was easier to focus on the error-filled game.

“I don’t get this frustrated often because the game is usually close and you have to hang in there,” Burrow said. “In this situation you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. There was maybe a minute left on the clock at this point. I knew my day was over and our day on offense was over. So that’s when you start.” Think about how the day went, and in the moment I was just focusing on all the negative things that I did, it was frustrating for me in that moment.

Burrow not alone

Earlier this week, I compared Burrow’s profanity to what we’ve seen from Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the past. High-end quarterbacks tend to be feisty when things aren’t going well. They have high standards.

Burrow mentioned this duo and added Drew Brees. He has a few things in common with this trio, including the ability to rant on the fly.

“They did it right, handled their careers right. They never pressured anyone. You always have the behavior you want to see from a quarterback,” Burrow said. “These guys get into trouble on the sidelines too. That’s part of the game. You can watch clips of all these guys getting frustrated with getting our bodies to be able to go out and perform and when you feel like things aren’t up to standard, that’s frustrating because we do so much Putting the work into emotional play.”

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