For the second year in a row, Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow has spent much of the training camp and preseason process sidelined due to a health issue. Last year it was a burst appendix. This time, it’s a calf strain that has kept him sidelined for the better part of five weeks.
The fourth-year veteran return to practice on Wednesday, officially, though his work has been limited. The team is protecting him and making sure that nobody gets near him in a way that would cause him to react, which is how his calf injury occurred.
While he is making steady progress, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was not prepared to commit to a timeline that would have him starting for the team in their regular season opener. “We’re taking it day-to-day right now”, he said when asked about that prospect.
The Pro Bowler has not yet worked in team settings, limited to work in seven-on-seven drills, according to the team’s website, during his first two days back on the practice field. I would imagine that today will be more of the same with the hopes of ramping it up next week.
The Bengals’ first game is on Sunday, September 10 against the Cleveland Browns. Burrow struggled trying to return after his appendix surgery last year facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, throwing four interceptions though they only lost due to a blocked extra point in the long run. The Baltimore Ravens are on tap right after Cleveland.
Though he hasn’t missed a game due to injury the past two seasons, he has some type of ailment in almost every season. His rookie year ended with a torn ACL in 2020, followed by the appendix last year, and now a calf injury.
Certainly not enough to form any kind of meaningful correlation, but he has had his issues to wrestle with, either to start off the season or to finish it. Last year’s issue caused him to be a bit slow out of the gates, so it’s worth monitoring how he fares returning from this calf injury, and if he even makes it back in time for the first game.
The Steelers do not have to worry about him for a while. They will not see him until late November all the way in the 12th week of the season, so his calf certainly should not be bothering him by then, at least not for the same issue.
Speaking of issues, when are the Bengals going to pay Burrow? He is due for a contract extension, which seems to have been put off due to the injury. Are they going to get something done in time for the start of the regular season? Unlike the Steelers, however, Cincinnati has no hard and fast precept about in-season negotiation.
