The NFL has offered a surprising response to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s public complaints about the team’s 2025 schedule, Grey Papke of Larry Brown Sports reports.

Burrow publicly vented his frustration with some aspects of the Bengals’ schedule last week. He was disappointed that the Bengals did not get an international game, but was particularly frustrated that the team’s divisional road game against the Baltimore Ravens is in primetime for the fourth consecutive year.

In response, NFL scheduling VP Mike North admitted that Burrow’s complaints are justified.

“It’s fair. It’s not a one-or-two years sort of a league where you fix every problem every other year or every two years,” North told Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ official website. “Once you start getting to the same thing three years in a row, four, or five years in a row, whether it’s a short week Thursday on the road or opening on the road. When trends like that emerge, we probably have to adjust at some point.

“It just ended up as we got down the stretch here, that this was our best schedule, and fully acknowledging that, I’m sure the Bengals fans are a little surprised and probably a little disappointed.”

North did note that the Bengals are getting a game on Thanksgiving out of the deal, and dropped a pretty big hint that the complaint will be addressed in years to come.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg 
     
Don't forget to follow us on Bluesky at https://theredzone.bsky.social

Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org