Burrow prepared to land with Bengals: 'I'm not gonna not play'

Projected No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow defused speculation Tuesday that he doesn't want to land with the Cincinnati Bengals.

"I'm not gonna not play," the LSU quarterback told reporters at the scouting combine, according to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones. "I'm a ballplayer. Whoever picks me, I'm gonna go show up."

Burrow was peppered with questions about his desire to play for the Bengals after former No. 1 pick Steve Bartkowski suggested the 23-year-old should "pull an Eli Manning" and force his way to another team. Leading up to the combine, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner had refrained from saying outright that he wants to play for the Bengals.

"I don't know what's gonna happen, they might not pick me, they might fall in love with someone else," Burrow added Tuesday, via Albert Breer of The MMQB. "You guys kinda took that narrative and ran with it, but there's never been anything like that from my end."

Burrow has yet to meet with the Bengals, but agreed with a reporter's assessment that it would be exciting to play in Southwest Ohio, near where he grew up.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "It's two hours, 15 minutes from my house. I could go home for dinner if I wanted to. Not a lot of pro athletes could get to do that."

Burrow won't throw or work out at the combine, but he intends to do so at LSU's pro day.