After sitting out the team’s first two practices this week, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has now been cleared to resume practicing, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
While Burfict has been cleared to resume practicing, he still remains on the Bengals Reserve/PUP list for now and as Dehner points out, it doesn’t mean for sure that he’ll play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. In order for that to happen, the linebacker will have to be activated to the Bengals 53-man roster by 4 p.m. EST on Saturday.
Burfict is looking to return from a microfracture surgery on his knee that took place in January. The former undrafted free agent hasn’t played a down since Week 8 of last season, so it will likely take him a week or two to get himself back into football shape.
If things go well for Burfict over the course of the next few weeks, you can probably count on him being on the field when the Steelers play the Bengals again in Week 14 at Cincinnati.
#Bengals make it official: Vontaze Burfict cleared to resume practice.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) October 29, 2015
This doesn't mean for sure Burfict will play Sunday. Just starts the three-week window for the team to make a decision to activate or not.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) October 29, 2015
That said, this obviously was a huge step, and the sooner the team can start working him in the quicker he can work conditioning back up.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) October 29, 2015
