Joe Burrow headlined a bizarro-world AFC North in 2023 in which Lamar Jackson was the only quarterback who remained healthy. Jackson won the NFL MVP award and took the Baltimore Ravens to the AFC Championship Game. The Cincinnati Bengals missed the playoffs without Burrow after reaching the AFC Championship Game two years in a row.
Burrow suffered a torn ligament in the wrist of his throwing arm in Week 11 against the Ravens. Though he had played nearly every snap up to that point, a strained calf suffered in training camp also ailed him throughout much of the year.
Now he tells ESPN that he expects to return to action in time for OTAs in May. He told Ben Baby he expects he will earn clearance for a full workload by then. Right now, he is throwing small medicine balls around rather than football as he ramps up his return.
In the 2021-22 seasons combined, Burrow went 780-of-1,126 passing for 9,086 yards. He threw 69 touchdown passes against 26 interceptions with a 104.2 quarterback rating, averaging 8.1 yards per pass attempt.
The Bengals reached the Super Bowl during the 2021 season and only lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the conference finals a year later. The Chiefs proceeded to win the Super Bowl in 2022 and repeated as champions in 2023, free of Burow’s challenge.
Burrow led the Bengals to five postseason victories in two seasons, doubling the organization’s total in franchise history to 10. In seven postseason games, he is 169-of-251 passing for 1,826 yards with nine touchdowns to four interceptions.
He wasn’t the same player to start the 2023 season as he dealt with that ankle injury, however. He finished the year 244-of-365 passing for 2,309 yards with 15 touchdowns to 6 interceptions, unrepresentative of a sluggish beginning.
Cincinnati lost three of its first four games, including multiple blowouts in which it scored just three points. But the Bengals proceeded to rattle off a four-game winning streak, suddenly looking formidable again.
A very competitive loss to the Houston Texans preceded the game against the Ravens in which Burrow tore the ligament. Backup QB Jake Browning briefly kept them afloat before he fell back to reality as teams adjusted to his novelty.
Burrow returning healthy instantly makes the Bengals a Super Bowl frontrunner again. Not that anybody questioned his healthy return, but we now have a timeline from the horse’s mouth. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns are figuring out their timeline for Deshaun Watson. As for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’re just trying to figure out how to find a competent quarterback.
