When Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow initially aggravated his calf injury in September, there were fears it could linger deep into the 2023 NFL season. Entering NFL games today, Cincinnati’s star is reportedly making a remarkable recovery.
While Burrow has played in every game this season, he’s never been close to 100 percent. The Pro Bowl quarterback admitted before a Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams that he wouldn’t have played if Cincinnati wasn’t already 0-2.
- Joe Burrow stats 2023: 78.3 QB rating, 62.4% completion rate, 1,045 passing yards 5-3 TD-INT, 5.3 yards per attempt, 11 sacks taken in five games
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The Bengals won that game, but Burrow was obviously limited by his calf injury. Behind a porous offensive line and struggling to move with any relative ease, Cincinnati’s offense plummeted. Heading into a Week 5 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, there remained concerns that the injury could linger for weeks.
Then, Burrow threw for 317 yards with three passing touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals. While he benefitted from Arizona repeatedly leaving Ja’Marr Chase open, Burrow showed the ability to navigate pressure in the pocket and even extend a few plays with his legs.
Cincinnati is now 2-3 heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. With wide receiver Tee Higgins also expected to play in Week 6, things are reportedly looking even better for the Bengals’ offense because of Burrow’s rapid recovery.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported on Saturday night that Burrow is now almost 100 percent recovered. While he was reportedly a bit sore this week, the Bengals’ quarterback ran sprints in practice for the first time since before he suffered the injury early in training camp.
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A team source told The Athletic that Burrow is running around more in practice and having far more ease moving during practice drills. He’s doing all of this without a calf sleeve on his leg, which is the last thing Cincinnati expected when he aggravated the injury.
While there’s always the risk of a setback on Sunday, Burrow coming out of the game healthy would be the perfect way for the Bengals to enter the bye week. If Cincinnati can also come away with a win over the Seahawks, suddenly the AFC North will be even more wide-open after the Bengals’ chances appeared to be over following the 1-3 start.