Three Thoughts on Joe Burrow's Calf Injury, What it Means for Him and the Bengals

The 26-year-old was injured at the end of Thursday's practice.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Jul 28, 2023 7:12 AM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow was zipping passes to his teammates on Thursday afternoon at the Bengals practice field.

The 26-year-old looked sharp. After connecting with Tee Higgins for a long touchdown on Wednesday, Burrow found Ja'Marr Chase for a 60-yard score on Thursday.

He looked fast, strong, accurate and ready to take his game to new heights this season.

"Knock on wood. I feel great," Burrow said on Wednesday. "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."

Less than 24 hours later, Burrow rolled to his right during the final team period of practice and suffered a right calf strain. He hopped on his left foot for a few steps before sitting on the ground. He was carted to the locker room a few minutes later.

Burrow had played great during the Bengals first two practices, but there was real concern from the team, the city and the entire NFL landscape.

Fortunately, Burrow and the Bengals avoided disaster. This isn't a season ending injury. He could be fully healthy for the start of the regular season with the opener just over six weeks away.

It is going to cost him practice time. And his hope of getting some snaps in the preseason just went out the window.

Here are three thoughts on Burrow's injury, his contract status and what's next for the star quarterback:

Bad Luck at Training Camp

July 27, 2023; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) suffers an injury on this scramble play during Cincinnati Bengals training camp practice, Thursday, July 27, 2023, at the practice fields next to Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY NETWORK — Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY NETWORK

"Can this guy get a break?"

That was the first question I asked when Burrow went down in practice on Thursday.

From coming into the NFL during the COVID pandemic and not meeting his teammates in person until training camp, to coming back from a torn ACL in his second season and an emergency appendectomy last July—Burrow has dealt with some sort of preseason injury or issue in each of his four seasons.

It's bad luck.

Some will say he shouldn't have been practicing since he was wearing a sleeve on his right calf, but I watched him explode off of his right leg throughout Thursday's practice, pushing the ball downfield and throwing on the run.

He was running much harder in warmups than he was when he suffered the calf strain.

Burrow is clearly in the best shape of his life. Sometimes there is someone to blame for injuries, but this is just a case of bad luck.

Resilient

Burrow has dealt with much worse than this. He's played through pinkie injuries, throat contusions and MCL sprains.

The Bengals' regular season opener is six weeks from Sunday. We don't have a timetable for his recovery, but it's fair to expect Burrow to do everything in his power to get healthy for Cincinnati's matchup with Cleveland on Sept. 10.

Unfortunately, he's going to miss valuable practice time. Something he was excited about just one day prior when he met with the media.

"Physically. Mentally. Any time you get more reps the better you’ll be," Burrow said. "When you have four weeks of training camp, you’re four weeks better than where you were if you didn’t get those reps."

He's overcome much steeper challenges before. It won't be easy, but there's no reason why he won't attack this calf issue with the same resilience and determination.

Contract Status

There's been plenty of talk about a possible Burrow extension before Thursday's injury.

Nothing has changed. If anything, this injury is a reminder about how much he means to the franchise and to the city.

"He's one of the main reasons why we're at this level," Tyler Boyd said. "Why we're playing so well and why we're continuing to be one of the top teams in the NFL. Seeing any player of that type of caliber sucks."

"When, not if" is still a good phrase to use when referring to Burrow's extension. It's coming and Thursday isn't going to impact negotiations.

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