Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will be sidelined for the rest of the season because of the injury to his right wrist that forced him to leave Thursday night’s loss at Baltimore during the first half, the team announced Friday.
An MRI exam taken Friday showed Burrow suffered a torn ligament in his wrist that probably will require surgery, Coach Zac Taylor announced. Burrow also said that surgery is likely, although no final determination about that had been made.
“It’s tough,” Burrow said at a news conference at the team’s training facility in Cincinnati. “You work so hard for seasons and moments like these. So whenever you get hurt and it ends it early, it’s tough to handle. But that’s part of the game. I’ve been through it before. So I’ve just got to grind it out.”
The Bengals said in a statement posted to social media that Burrow, the NFL’s highest-paid player who led the team to the past two AFC championship games, would be “out for the remainder of the season.”
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Burrow and Taylor said they believed that Burrow was injured on the second-to-last play in which he participated during the 34-20 defeat to the Ravens. Burrow landed on his wrist on that play. He said Friday that he “just felt a pop” in his wrist when he threw a touchdown pass to tailback Joe Mixon on the next play.
“That’s football,” Burrow said. “You’re going to get injured. Things are going to happen, and you’re going to have to overcome things. Everybody has to overcome things in their career to get to where they’re at. Everybody in that locker room has. Everybody across the league has. This is nothing different from anything [that] anybody else has experienced.”
Burrow appeared unable to grip the football while attempting to throw passes on the Bengals’ sideline after leaving the field during the second quarter Thursday. Taylor initially called the injury a sprained wrist late Thursday night. Burrow’s right arm and wrist were heavily wrapped while he dressed in the Bengals’ locker room following the game.
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Burrow’s absence will leave the Bengals attempting to turn around their season with backup Jake Browning replacing him as the starter. Their record dropped to 5-5 with Thursday’s loss.
“Just talking to guys on the team, excited to rally around Jake,” Taylor said at a news conference Friday. “We’ve got a lot of great players on this team. Excited to see this team really band together for these last seven weeks and find a way. And so we’re excited for that opportunity but obviously disappointed for Joe.”
The unwelcome news for the Bengals came after the NFL said earlier Friday that it will review the injury-reporting situation involving Burrow.
The Bengals did not list Burrow on the injury report this week leading into the game against the Ravens. He was seen in a video wearing what appeared to be some sort of brace on his right hand and wrist after the Bengals arrived Wednesday in Baltimore.
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An NFL spokesman said Friday that the league “will review the matter with the club,” declining further comment.
Burrow said Friday that he’d worn a compression sleeve on the team’s flight to Baltimore.
“This is a completely different thing,” Burrow said. “It’s not uncommon for guys to wear compression sleeves on [the] plane because when you go up to that altitude, things can swell up. [In] football, you have a lot of bumps and bruises. This is a completely new injury.”
Taylor said Friday: “That’s totally unrelated to what this was.”
It was not immediately clear what penalties, if any, the Bengals would face if the league concludes that they failed to disclose a wrist injury for Burrow entering the game. The NFL’s injury-reporting rules require teams to list all players with “reportable injuries” on their injury reports, even if those players participate fully in practices and the team is certain they will play in the upcoming game. The rules emphasize that is particularly relevant for key players and players whose injuries have received media coverage. Those rules say that some injuries are automatically reportable if they affect a player’s availability and others may be reportable if they have an effect on a player’s performance.
Lots of talk about a deleted #Bengals post, which showed Joe Burrow wearing some type of brace or sleeve on his right wrist.
🎥 Here’s video of Burrow getting off the team bus in Baltimore.
Not a perfectly clear shot, but you can definitely see it on his hand.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/XcqX6oMODA
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 16, 2023Browning replaced Burrow late in the first half Thursday and finished the game. The Bengals have lost two straight games following a four-game winning streak that coincided with Burrow seemingly being fully healthy after being plagued early in the season by a calf injury suffered in training camp.
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Wide receiver Tyler Boyd said in the Bengals’ postgame locker room Thursday night: “It’s always the next man up in this league. Guys are here for a reason. I believe in each and every one of these guys.”
But Boyd also said of Burrow’s injury: “It hurt. … Joe gives us our best chance of winning football games.”
Burrow’s latest injury adds to the growing list of serious injuries prominent NFL quarterbacks have suffered this season. Aaron Rodgers tore the Achilles’ tendon in his left leg four snaps into his first game with the New York Jets in September. The Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles’ tendon. Indianapolis Colts rookie Anthony Richardson underwent shoulder surgery that probably ended his season. The New York Giants lost Daniel Jones to a torn ACL in his right knee. The Cleveland Browns said this week that Deshaun Watson will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
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Burrow’s rookie season in 2020 was cut short by a torn ACL in his left knee. He took the Bengals to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. They made it back to the AFC championship game last season but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. They seemingly were rounding back into championship-contending form in recent weeks. But then came the calamitous five-day stretch that began with Sunday’s loss at home to the Houston Texans, followed by Thursday night’s defeat and Burrow’s early exit.
“It’s part of the league, man,” Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase said in the postgame locker room. “I’m not used to losing. I’m not a loser. So I love winning. When I lose, I don’t like the feeling. You know what I’m saying? So as of right now we’ve just got to adjust and make changes, move forward.”
Burrow predicted Friday that Browning will play well and the Bengals will figure out how to get their season headed back in the proper direction.
“They’re going to continue to go out and win games without me,” Burrow said. “That’s what has to happen.”
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