There was a scare today during Bengals practice, as Joe Burrow went down with a leg injury before getting carted off the field. Fortunately, it sounds like the franchise quarterback avoided a serious injury. Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters that Burrow suffered a strained calf (per ESPN’s Dianna Russini on Twitter).
[RELATED: Latest On Joe Burrow, Bengals Contract Negotiations]
Per Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Inquirer, Burrow was scrambling during an 11-on-11 drill before he “hobbled to the ground” with an apparent non-contact injury. Bengals medical staff checked on the quarterback before deciding to cart him off the field.
Interestingly, Burrow was spotted wearing a black sleeve on the same leg that got injured. When asked about the sleeve, Taylor indicated that it was normal for players to relieve soreness following the first day of training camp (via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Twitter). In other words, it appears to just be a coincidence that Burrow injured the same knee with the sleeve (vs. the sleeve being some kind of hint that Burrow was dealing with a serious issue before going down).
It’s an unfortunate start to training camp for the quarterback. Burrow has dealt with some kind of ailment during each of the last three training camps, with the QB recovering from his ACL tear in 2021 and dealing with appendicitis (and the ensuing surgery) in 2022. Just yesterday, Burrow noted how excited he was to be fully healthy to start camp.
“Knock on wood … I feel great,” Burrow said following yesterday’s practice (via Conway). “This time last year I was sitting in a hospital bed. It’s good to be out there with the guys. Excited about where we’re at.”
Burrow’s latest injury comes in the midst of contract negotiations with the Bengals. With Justin Herbert inking a megadeal the other day, Burrow would appear to be the next in line for a record-breaking extension. Most pundits predict that Burrow will reset the QB market with his next contract, but a serious leg injury certainly would have complicated those negotiations.
If Burrow is forced to miss any time, the Bengals do have some experienced depth at quarterback. Trevor Siemian joined the team earlier this offseason, although the veteran has only started six games since 2018. Cincy is also rostering former UDFA Jake Browning.
Insane “coincidence” that Burrow was wearing a compression sleeve over the exact calf he injured today. He was not wearing that sleeve yesterday, and I’ve never (in his career) noticed it before. Let’s do simple math here…. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone from the training staff is quietly let go soon.
I’m not good at math. What are you saying?
I was told there would be no math.
If Goodell can expand the NFL to Europe you might have to learn the metric system. You probably already know a 15 yard personal foul = 13.716 metres.
No team drafts a QB first overall because of his outstanding calfs. Sounding the panic alarm in Cincy seems a bit premature.
Maybe not 1st overall but definitely 3rd. The Colts just drafted a guy 3rd overall because he is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He cannot throw the ball all that well but he does have amazing calves lol.
Guess you didn’t watch all the film on him, he is not that impressive of a thrower. He put up 53.8% completion percentage, 17 TD and 9 Int last year; Wow that’s not very good. Sorry about it, until I see something from him that says he is a legit NFL QB I stand by my comment. You’re a clown bro, you make me laugh.
Hopefully you’re talking about the clown from Florida and not Joe Burrow. Richardson isn’t even a one year wonder. He makes bad decisions, can’t read defenses, and runs before he checks all his options. He’s a helluva project, but he has a rocket arm and an ego so big fans might not be able to fit in the stadium. The Colts are going to end up trotting him out there this year instead of going with Minshew (who could be a perennial playoff QB on a good team) and hopefully it doesn’t break him like so many others before him.
The comment in between my comments above was removed apparently. Sorry for any confusion this causes any readers. Someone posted a comment to me so I was responding to something that person had said.
Burrow is a beast, one of the best currently playing the position. Please do not think I was insulting Mr. Joe Cool.