CINCINNATI — Andrew Whitworth said he's not panicking about the Bengals' 0-2 start.
Whitworth is back in Cincinnati for a Monday Night Football showdown between his two former teams — the Bengals and Rams. He spent 11 seasons in the Queen City before joining the Rams and winning a Super Bowl against his old squad.
Despite the last five years of his career with the Rams, Whitworth and his family have continued to support the Bengals and fellow LSU alum Joe Burrow. The two struck up a friendship when Burrow was rehabbing his torn ACL in Los Angeles, and his family has been some of Burrow's biggest supporters ever since.
Whitworth said that while this season hasn't started off exactly as fans had hoped, Burrow makes anything possible.
"I think every year, the first couple of weeks we're panicking, and I think it's just the nature of this team — they start a little slow," Whitworth said. "I'm not gonna panic until I see really the health of Joe Burrow ... if he's healthy, this team's always got the chance to be successful."
The 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year said this Cincinnati team has shown that it can go on runs towards the end of the year, winning eight straight to end the 2022 regular season.
"They've shown the ability to get hot and really get on a winning streak ... until we see that Joe isn't healthy and can't do that, I'm not gonna panic," Whitworth said.
Whitworth said he did speak to Burrow a bit after his injury and before the start of the season, noting that has no doubt that the 26-year-old wants to play and be dominant. Still, though, he said if the 26-year-old is unhealthy, "then (you) have to protect him from himself."
"You don't want something worse to happen to him because he's out there hobbling around or is putting himself in positions where he can't protect himself," Whitworth said. "And also confidence — you don't want your quarterback to continue to get hit and taking shots that he can't run away from or get away from."
Big Whit's return to Cincinnati isn't about the game. He's also in town to celebrate former teammate Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson's induction into the Ring of Honor. On Monday, Whitworth was walking around in a shirt that said "Child Please" and "Kiss Da Baby" — two Ochocinco-isms.
"Once I saw this game, obviously having played for Cincinnati and the Rams, what a special opportunity to come back here for Monday Night Football and to hear that Chad was going in — what a cool moment," Whitworth said. "Your teammates, those are the memories you from walking away from the game, so I was excited to be here."
Whitworth said he would "love to" be in the Bengals Ring of Honor.
