CINCINNATI — For the first time this season, Bengals QB Joe Burrow is nominated for FedEx Air Player of the Week.
Receiver Trenton Irwin said Burrow was "in kill mode" against the Arizona Cardinals, and his numbers show it. Burrow went 36-of-46 for 317 yards and three touchdowns — all to receiver Ja'Marr Chase.
The stats are his best of the season, and earned him a nomination for the FedEx Air Player of the Week alongside the 49ers' Brock Purdy and Bears QB Justin Fields. Purdy threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns, while Fields also finished with four touchdowns and 282 passing yards.
While he obviously wasn't as good of a rusher as FedEx Ground Player of Week nominees Breece Hall, Zack Moss and De'Von Achane, Burrow had a 10-yard scramble Sunday that showed more mobility than he's had in previous weeks.
Burrow strained a calf muscle early in training camp and appeared to aggravate it in Week 2. While he threw for more than 250 yards in Cincinnati's only other win of the season (a Monday night showdown with the Rams), Burrow acknowledged that the calf injury had been impacting his style of play.
The 26-year-old said last week he hasn't had any setbacks, so hopefully, this won't be the last time he's nominated for the weekly award.
The FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards, voted on by the fans, work with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to make donations of $2,000 in the name of the winners to Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country.
