The Cincinnati Bengals might be without quarterback Joe Burrow moving forward, and now they are under scrutiny from the NFL following Burrow’s wrist injury that knocked him from the Thursday Night Football loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the Bengals are now being investigated by the NFL for not listing Burrow on their injury report leading up to the matchup with Baltimore after cameras caught Burrow entering M&T Bank Stadium ahead of Thursday night’s matchup with the Ravens sporting what appeared to be a brace on his right wrist.
Quite a stir was caused leading up to the game as the Amazon Prime video captured Burrow entering the stadium with a soft cast/brace on his right wrist, immobilizing the wrist. Burrow was not listed on the injury report at all but was clearly wearing a brace. The video was quickly deleted.
Then, in the second quarter of Thursday night’s game, Burrow was knocked from the game, unable to grip or throw a football. That led to the Bengals putting backup Jake Browning in, eventually losing to Baltimore, 34-2o.
Now, the NFL is investigating why the team did not list Burrow on its injury report, which is a violation.
Leading up to Thursday night’s matchup, the Bengals had 10 players on their injury report, including three offensive players in wide receivers Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones. Yet, there was no mention of Burrow.
The NFL investigating the Bengals calls to mind the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being investigated in 2019 following Roethlisberger’s season-ending injury in Week Two against the Seattle Seahawks. As is well known, Roethlisberger tore ligaments in his elbow in the first half of that game.
Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph might have been the one who inadvertently alerted the NFL then, stating to reporters after that game that Roethlisberger had been experiencing some discomfort in his elbow coming into that Week Two matchup.
Leading up to that game, Roethlisberger had his normal Wednesday off as a veteran’s rest day and then practiced in full on Thursday and Friday with no limitations or injury listed. His absence and return were listed as “coaches’ decision” and “not injury related.” Then, he was injured in the first half against the Seahawks, leading the NFL to investigate.
The Steelers were ultimately fined $75,000 while head coach Mike Tomlin was fined $25,000 for inaccurately reporting Roethlisberger on the injury report.
