Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a right wrist injury in the second quarter of Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Burrow’s injury came after he threw a touchdown pass to running back Joe Mixon. He was in obvious discomfort on the field before being unable to throw on the sideline. Burrow’s frustration was obvious as he headed to the locker room and was ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the game.
This could end up being a major blow for Cincinnati as the team fell to 5-5 following a 34-20 loss to Baltimore. It could also lead to some questions from the NFL league office in New York City.
The Amazon Prime broadcast appeared to have shown Burrow entering M&T Bank Stadium with some sort of brace or wrap on his right wrist.
There are so many different layers to this. If Burrow was indeed injured and did not show up on the Bengals’ injury report heading into Thursday evening, it’s a clear violation of league policy.
We’re going to hear a lot about this situation as things play out. Hundreds of millions are bet on the NFL on a weekly basis. It is one of the primary reasons that these injury reports are important outside of the competitive advantage that comes with playing loose with the rules and player health.
Cincinnati Bengals could be investigated over Joe Burrow injury
It was earlier this season that the NFL opened up an investigation into the Atlanta Falcons apparently failing to disclose an injury rookie running back Bijan Robinson was suffering through ahead of a Week 7 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith revealed at halftime of the game that Robinson wasn’t feeling great. Robinson allegedly started feeling bad the night before the game. Despite receiving no injury designation, he played in just 11 snaps and attempted one run. The investigation is ongoing.
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NFL rules are pretty clear when it comes to designations on team injury reports.
“The Game Status Report is expected to provide clubs and the public with an accurate description
NFL memo on injury report designations
of a player’s anticipated availability for the club’s next game. Clubs are required to indicate the
status of their injured players on the NFL Intranet site by 4:00 p.m., New York time, and issue
notice to the opposing team, local and national media, broadcast partners.”
For Thursday Night Football games, these reports have to be released on Wednesday. Joe Burrow did not show on the Bengals’ official injury report.
It’s intriguing that an employee of NFL Media, Tom Pelissero, pointed out that Burrow entered the stadium Thursday night with some type of protection on the wrist he ended up injuring on a non-contact play. It’s even more telling that an NFL’s official broadcast partner would show a replay of the video in question.
Could this very well be much ado about nothing? Sure. But the injury Burrow suffered seemed to be strange in the first place that it came on a throw without contact.
If a violation if proven, penalties could range from fines to the stripping of a draft pick. Based on the video evidence shared above, the NFL will at least investigate.
As for Burrow’s injury, there will be further updates after he undergoes other tests on the wrist come Friday morning. For now, it could be a brutal blow to the Bengals’ playoff aspirations ater they fell to 5-5 following Thursday night’s loss.
We will have updates on all of this drama as things develop.