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The Bengals have found their franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow, but now it's all about getting the No. 1 overall pick healthy after tearing up his knee and ending his rookie campaign prematurely. On Monday, the club released a video of their young quarterback walking into the facility, which was an encouraging sign of his recovery -- and Tuesday brought with it even more positive news. Burrow told reporters he is on pace to be ready for Week 1 of the 2021 season after being six weeks post-op from repairing tears to his ACL and MCL. 

"That's been the goal for me from the beginning," Burrow said, via NFL.com. "They say it's a 9-12 month recovery and the first game is exactly nine months from my injury. We're on pace to do it right now. There's obviously a long road ahead and there's opportunities for setbacks along the road, but as far as right now, it's looking as good as it could for where I'm at in the rehab process."

Burrow added that his rehab at the team facility will include running on an assisted treadmill that will carry about half of his body weight in about six weeks. That type of progress is both good news for the Bengals and Burrow, who admitted the initial few weeks following his surgery weren't easy. 

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"The first two weeks was pretty miserable," he said. "Couldn't really get out of bed on my own or do anything on my own. But around week three or four I was able to start walking on my own a little bit. It's starting to feel pretty normal when I'm walking around. Doing some body weight squats and stuff like that, so it's moving along."

By how Burrow described his recovery timeline, it doesn't seem like the preseason is a realistic return point and the date primarily circled is the Week 1 opener, which is about eight months out. The young quarterback does seem to be in good spirits and driven to make it back to game action by that point. As long as he doesn't suffer any setbacks, he seems to be moving along right on schedule, which is extremely positive for Cincinnati going into this offseason.