CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow didn’t want to reveal too much about when he could be playing for the Cincinnati Bengals again this season, but he does have a potential target date in mind.
Burrow said Monday that it will be very meaningful if he can return from a turf toe injury on his left foot for the Thanksgiving Day game against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 27. Two years ago, Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury during a November prime-time game at M&T Bank Stadium that was also on a Thursday night.
He officially returned to practice Monday in a limited capacity as the team opened his 21-day window to return from injured reserve.
“We’ll see how these next couple weeks go,” Burrow said in his first news conference since the injury. “There’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a lot of variables that you have to consider.”
Burrow didn’t rule out the notion that the team’s overall record will factor into that decision. Cincinnati (3-6) has lost five of its six games since Burrow suffered the toe injury during a Week 2 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It was the latest setback for a player who has had many of them throughout his career. In addition to the wrist injury in 2023, Burrow also suffered a season-ending left knee injury when he tore the ACL and other ligaments in 2020, his rookie year. The former No. 1 pick also had an emergency appendectomy that impacted the beginning of his 2022 season and a strained calf that affected the start of the 2023 campaign.
Burrow will definitely not play against the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4) on Sunday. Joe Flacco, who was acquired from the Cleveland Browns ahead of the Week 6 game against the Green Bay Packers, remains in position to start despite dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Flacco will be managed throughout the week but appears to be “feeling OK” following the team’s bye.
Taylor said this week was the internal timeline for Burrow to again start practicing. Burrow didn’t do any 11-on-11 team drills, Taylor said, and started his practice protocol by throwing passes to receivers not facing any defenders, or what is typically referred to as “routes on air.”
It could be a boost for an ailing team that is facing a daunting climb to get back into postseason contention.
“It’s exciting when you see a guy who has put so much into coming back on the front end of a difficult injury,” Taylor said. “You can look at different timelines, and he’s done everything you can to get himself back on the field, so this is just the next stage of his progression.”
Burrow said he feels good about the surgery and the strength of not only the repair but his overall physical condition. Monday’s practice, however, showed that he is still tinkering to find the best path moving forward.
He sported a different pair of shoes during his limited practice and acknowledged there is additional hardware in his cleats, but he said he doesn’t believe the injury to the big toe on his left foot has impacted his throwing motion.
“At this point, it’s just the running, cutting, twitchy short stops that we’re going to have to see over these next couple of weeks how it feels and where that goes,” Burrow said.
A few wins, coupled with Burrow’s return, could boost a Bengals team that has missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons after winning back-to-back AFC North championships. Assessing the state of this year’s team, Burrow said it hasn’t been able to play well on both offense and defense at the same time.
The stats back that up. Since Flacco took over on Week 6, the Bengals have the league’s best scoring offense (32.8 points per game) and the worst scoring defense (36.0 points per game).
But Burrow, a two-time Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year, believes Cincinnati still has hope with the Bengals not far behind the Steelers (5-4) heading into Sunday’s AFC North showdown at Pittsburgh.
“Everything is still there in front of us,” Burrow said. “Very rare that our division looks like this, but it does this year. And so, I think we’ll be at least in it until the end.”
