Among the Super Bowl favorites this year, the Cincinnati Bengals were delivered quite a shock on the first day of practices as QB Joe Burrow went down grabbing his lower leg after suffering a non-contact injury. Initial concern was high, but as the dust settled, it turned out not to be so bad after all.
Addressing the media just minutes after the injury occurred, head coach Zac Taylor did specify that it was a calf injury, but he could not at the time speak to the severity. WR Ja’Marr Chase told reporters that Burrow gave him an indication that he would be fine. “I wasn’t really worried”, he said. “I believe he’s all right”.
While it’s too early for an exact timeline, it seems reasonable to believe that the injury shouldn’t seriously impact the season as was initially feared. Burrow may not even miss any time at all, perhaps just a few weeks of training camp. He missed much of last year’s camp due to appendicitis. Still, it was quite a moment for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
“You could hear us both gasp”, center Ted Karras told the team’s website, referring to himself and a defensive teammate who was running alongside him. “I think Joe will be OK. I don’t know the extent. We’ll see. I’m not the expert, but I think Joe will be OK”.
With all that being said, it wouldn’t be accurate to portray the injury as a non-issue. While the quarterback position doesn’t need to be the most mobile on the field, a calf injury can certainly linger and affect performance, as DE Sam Hubbard shared.
“I know about calf strains all too well. They’re really painful. They’re not the end of the world, but they do linger a little bit”, he told the team’s website. “I think he and the training staff will do the right thing to take care of this in training camp and be ready to go”.
The first-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Burrow didn’t take long to establish himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He nearly claimed the organization’s first Super Bowl title at the end of the 2021 season and has five playoff wins over the past two years.
Which is why, as Mike Florio argued, he probably shouldn’t take the field again without a new contract that makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history. That mantle was just claimed by fellow 2020 draft pick Justin Herbert, the quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was expected that a similar but slightly richer extension for Burrow would follow shortly after, but it hasn’t happened yet. Given that he will now inevitably miss at least some time due to this calf injury, it would seem reasonable that a deal should be consummated by the time he returns.
