Bengals QB Joe Burrow return date, turf toe injury update
- Bengals QB Joe Burrow has returned to practice for the first time since his Week 2 turf toe injury.
- The team opened a 21-day practice window on Nov. 10, giving them until Dec. 1 to activate him.
- Burrow has not committed to a specific return date, saying, ‘We’ll see how these next couple of weeks go.’
For the first time since suffering his turf toe injury in Week 2, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has returned to practice. When will Burrow return to game action?
The Bengals opened their quarterback’s 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve on Monday, Nov. 10. That gives Cincinnati until the first day of December to activate Burrow for a game
.At a press conference after practice on Monday, Burrow stopped short of giving his target return date from the injury.
‘We’ll see how these next couple of weeks go,’ the Bengals quarterback said more than a couple of times.
There are still several factors that go into Burrow’s return timetable. The first and most important factor is how the quarterback is feeling on his reconstructed toe ligament. There’s also the Bengals’ record to consider.
If Cincinnati loses its next couple of games to fall to 3-8 and out of the AFC North race, would the Bengals really continue pushing to have Burrow return if he’s anywhere less than 100%?
Here’s the latest update on Burrow’s injury and potential return date:
When will Joe Burrow return?
Burrow’s 21-day practice window opened on Monday, Nov. 10, when he returned to the Bengals’ facility as a limited participant in practice. Over the next three weeks, Burrow and his team will evaluate his progress in returning from a turf toe injury that has kept him on injured reserve since Week 2.
There isn’t yet an official return date for the Bengals’ quarterback. Dec. 1 is the latest date Cincinnati can return Burrow to the active roster, but he could return earlier if he feels ready.
‘We have 21 days to figure that out,’ Burrow said in his Nov. 10 press conference. ‘Could be early, could be late in that window. We are still pretty early post-surgery for this injury, so we have a couple of weeks of practice to figure that out and see how it goes.’
One reporter asked Burrow specifically about the Bengals’ Week 13 game against the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving – Nov. 27, or four days before the end of Burrow’s 21-day window. Could that be Burrow’s target return date?
After a long pause, Burrow said, ‘We’ll see. We’ll see how these next couple of weeks go.’
The Bengals quarterback emphasized the importance of winning the AFC North this year, in a season where the wild card spots could be competitive and the division is wide open through 10 weeks. Given that emphasis, it can be easy to read into Burrow’s answers on Nov. 10 as pointing to a return by Thanksgiving.
But, as Burrow said over and over, ‘We’ll see.’
Bengals QB depth chart
- Joe Burrow (injured reserve – toe)
- Joe Flacco
- Jake Browning
- Sean Clifford
Flacco came to Cincinnati in an in-division trade with the Cleveland Browns in early October. He immediately took over as the Bengals’ starter in Week 6 and snapped his new team’s four-game losing streak in Week 7.
Browning was Burrow’s backup to begin the season but struggled heavily in his three games as the Bengals’ fill-in starter. He threw eight interceptions in four games – including three in Week 2 after Burrow departed with an injury. Browning’s struggles were the central reason the Bengals traded for Flacco before Week 6.
Clifford began the season on the roster bubble of the Green Bay Packers and was released at the end of training camp. Cincinnati signed Clifford to its practice squad after Burrow’s injury. After Flacco sustained a shoulder injury in Week 8, the Bengals signed the second-year quarterback to their active roster.
