According to Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, star quarterback Joe Burrow will miss a couple of weeks with a calf strain and didn’t suffer a major injury last Thursday in practice.
The 26-year-old will likely miss all of the preseason to make sure he is fully healthy for the opener Week One against their divisional opponent, the Cleveland Browns.
The former number-one overall pick from LSU back in 2020 was spotted in the locker room during the media access period, and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports that Burrow walked normally with a compression sleeve on his right calf.
The Bengals franchise signal caller was rolling to his right during drills when he pulled up short and suffered a noncontact injury, as he was carted off the field.
“He was just scrambling,” Taylor said to reporters, via Fox 19 Now in Cincinnati. “This is football. Guys go down with an injury…. That’s just part of football in training camp.”
Cincinnati dodged a potentially massive blow for their team and organization, as Burrow is also the last big-name quarterback to get a massive extension to join the likes of Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts (who all signed earlier this offseason). One that would likely make him the highest-paid player/ quarterback in the NFL, so it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.”
On Wednesday, one day before Burrow suffered a calf injury, he was asked about being healthy and having a normal training camp for the first time in his career, but unfortunately, this statement was short-lived.
“Knock on wood – I feel great,” Burrow said. “This time last year I was sitting in a hospital bed. It’s good to be out there with the guys. Excited about where we’re at.”
With Burrow missing the remainder of training camp, it will be his third in a row that he has not been able to participate fully due to injury.
In 2022, the Pro Bowl passer had a ruptured appendix that required surgery days before the start of training camp. In 2021, the former NFL Comeback Player of the Year and NFL Completion Percentage Leader was recovering from a torn ACL and MCL, one that ended his rookie campaign.
It is unknown if this injury could linger, as the Bengals didn’t specify what degree of calf strain Burrow suffered. If he were to miss any sort of time during the regular season, the backup quarterbacks behind him on the Cincinnati roster currently are veteran 31-year-old Trevor Siemian and journeyman 27-year-old Jake Browning. NFL Media’s Steve Wyche mentioned Browning is taking most of the first team reps in camp so far.
On Sunday, the Bengals did make a move for another camp arm to compete for the backup quarterback job and signed XFL’s Reid Sinnett, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, as the 26-year-old was with the Miami Dolphins for most of his 2022 tenure in the NFL. Cincinnati also worked out 25-year-old XFL and former Bengal quarterback Drew Plitt but opted for the more experienced Sinnett.
“It’ll be good to get another arm in there because that’s a lot of throws for these two guys,” Bengals head coach Taylor said on Friday.
Veteran quarterbacks, like Carson Wentz or Teddy Bridgewater, are still available in free agency if Burrow somehow suffers a setback or isn’t ready for Week 1, as their signing of another camp arm is likely to show that his injury isn’t serious enough to warrant panic his early.
With Burrow, the Bengals have a chance at repeating as AFC North Champions, but without him, if he misses any sort of meaningful time, it will hurt their playoff chances.
Bengals star wide receiver and Burrow’s good friend Ja’Marr Chase told reporters last Thursday why he thinks Burrow will be fine.
“We always give each other that nod,” Chase said after practice, via Dehner Jr. “He gave me a nod [to say] he’s all right. He’s a strong dude.”
“I wasn’t really worried,” Chase said. “I believe he’s all right.”
