Three months shy of 30, Joe Burrow has re-invented himself at his locker and in the pocket during an offseason teeming with roster acquisitions and playbook revisions that have left his Bengals ravenously approaching Sunday's Opening Day (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s FOX19) at Paycor Stadium against the Buccaneers.

As he ducks into the office of equipment manager Adam Knollman after a recent practice to meet Bengals.com, it's one of the few times this spring and summer he hasn't been caught throwing a football.

But he's tossing a few ideas as only Joseph Lee Burrow can.

"I've always kind of expressed myself with my clothes or my hair, less with my words. Trying to get better at using my words and feelings a little more," says Burrow, who's been doing a pretty good job with both lately. "Trying to evolve as a person, a player, a leader. Just trying to bring to the table whatever the team needs."

An admitted introvert, Burrow has stepped outside his comfort zone and put himself at the center of a Bengals locker room melting with NFL demographics that remind him of his youth in the collegiate cross section of Athens, Ohio. Guys like his left tackle, Orlando Brown Jr., say Burrow's presence with his mates outside Paycor Stadium has spurred the closeness of this new room manufactured overnight via the draft, free agency and a once-in-decade trade.

He has not only embraced his mates, but also the megaphone.

"I've been pushed to do that in the past. Not necessarily here, but just in my football life," Burrow says. "I've tried it before, and it's not really for me. But as I've grown and matured, I just think you have to be able to do it at some points, and you can't be so bad at it when you have to do it."

The trade, of course, brought them Dexter Lawrence II, the best nose tackle in football. Free agency yielded the best safety on the market in homegrown Bryan Cook, a Super Bowl pass rusher in Boye Mafe and an experienced interior sacker in Jonathan Allen. For Burrow, it brought him back to his university town roots in Athens.

"I think the amount of veterans that we brought in this offseason certainly upped the cultural dynamic in the locker room. I think the vibes are great right now," Burrow says. "Dexter. Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook, Boye.

"Some team cohesion was lacking over the last several years, and bringing veterans in like that, that have been there and done that and created those cultures and know what it takes has really helped us."

Burrow is no loner. He has a guy's-guy way around a locker room because of that kind of upbringing where his father, Jimmy Burrow, then the Ohio University defensive coordinator, brought all kinds of folks through the house. He admits, though, this locker room has brought it all back.

"As you get to college, get in the NFL, you come across people from so many different backgrounds and people that you build relationships with in those spots that you never would have if not for football," Burrow says, "and those people become some of your best friends, and that's what is so great about football."

The other thing Burrow likes about football is he gets to throw it. Yes, he agrees. Never before has he thrown it this much.

We've seen him throw for half-an-hour after practice to new wide receiver Dohnte Meyers. We've seen him go into the gym to throw for 20 more minutes to equipment ace Ryan Eckerle. Or we've even just seen him toss the ball to himself on the bench in sweats during a preseason game.

"I just like the feeling I get when the ball comes off my hand. It doesn't have to be full speed, full intense speed throwing," Burrow says. "You can just toss it and still feel it come off your hand, and just try and get better. That's what it comes down to at the end of the day."

Burrow sees the end of the day as the sunrise for his offense as it transitions into more under-center usage. Burrow reigns as the NFL's all-time accurate passer with a career completion percentage of 68.5 largely compiled out of the shotgun formation. He says he can remain on top even with more under-center snaps and runs. Even with his back to that defense he carves out of the gun.

"I think I can. I think that's kind of what we did in 2021 and that was my first 70% season," Burrow says of his Super Bowl 70.4. "We're going to draw back and throw it, but I think we're more versatile this year on offense. Where you know we can win in several different ways. I think our defense will allow us to be able to be versatile in that way.

"We're not going to have to go and throw it 60 times every game to go and win it. We'll certainly have to at some point, and we will. But I think we're in a much better spot as a team where we can win in a lot of different ways."

Burrow had one of the greatest years that a quarterback ever had in 2024. Despite leading the league in attempts, yards, and touchdowns, he threw just nine interceptions and joined Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees as the only man to have multiple 70-pecent passing seasons with a 70.6. He says he may not throw it 652 times in this iteration of head coach Zac Taylor’s scheme. But he believes he can be just as accurate.

"The stats might not be there because I think we're a better team, and we're not going to have to throw it 600 something times. I don't think we're going to have to do that," Burrow says. "I'm ready for it if we need to, and the fact that we have that under our belt can help us win games like that. We've played so many different ways over the years that whatever the defense throws at us, we're going to be ready for it."

Burrow smiles at the mention of the Dec. 19, 2021 win in Denver that kept the Super Bowl season alive. He threw just 22 times, but 15 completions (for that 68.5%) went for 157 yards.

"A big part of the games in that year was me running the football on third down at the end of games," Burrow says. "Get back to that a little bit. Run the ball, play-action first and second down, and then third down is where I get to go and make a play. I know I have to take on that role."

Sometimes it didn't look great in camp, but Burrow says that's not because they were under center. It's because who they were under center against.

"I feel really good about the camp that we had and practicing that. I don't think we'd want to do that against our defense," Burrow says. "We would want to stay in the gun and get it out. But there will be defenses that we do want to get under center and run it and play action and throw the ball down the field.

"It kind of depends on the team that we're playing, the front that we're playing, how they choose to attack you on defense, and that's part of being in a better spot as a team where we can be multiple in that way."

Burrow is as economical with his words as he is with his passes. He knows that can sometimes light up the sky. Such as his recent "now or never," vow. He says it wasn't meant to be an ultimatum. Just a declaration.

"I'm efficient with my words, and when I'm efficient with my words, that leaves some room for interpretation," Burrow says. "But I mean what I say. I'm here for the long haul. I'm not going anywhere. I'm just trying to bring a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process. If you're not, what are you doing? Attack the day with a championship mindset. The rest will take care of itself."

It turns out that Burrow is talking on Bengals founder Paul Brown's 118th birthday, another quarterback who re-invented himself along the way. He's reminded yet again that bond he shares with Brown as an Ohio State quarterback who transferred and found national fame.

"I'm just really proud to be quarterback of the Bengals," Burrow says. "I'm happy to be here. I'm proud to represent the city of Cincinnati, state of Ohio, the Brown family. I'm just proud and I want to make everybody else proud, too."

As he gets out of the chair flicking the most lethal right wrist in the game, it'd as if he's looking for another ball to throw.

"It's just about getting better," he says.