Bengals Haven't 'Shut the Door' on Joe Burrow Returning This Season

CINCINNATI — The Bengals haven't shared much information on Joe Burrow after the star quarterback suffered a grade 3 turf toe injury in their Week 2 win over the Jaguars, but Zac Taylor made one thing clear on Wednesday.

The Bengals are shutting the door on Burrow possibly returning to game action at some point this season.

"No," Taylor said bluntly when asked if he has fully "shut the door" on Burrow's chances of playing again this season.

Burrow is expected to undergo surgery in the near future after suffering torn ligaments in his left toe during their win over Jacksonville.

"At least the next four weeks, that’s the best I can give you," Taylor said when asked how long Burrow could be out.

The Bengals placed Burrow on injured reserve Tuesday, which means he'll miss at least four games. Once he has surgery, he's expected to miss a minumum of three months.

"I don't have the timing on that [surgery] yet," Taylor said. "It may have been decided this morning, but I don't have it yet so when I do, I’ll let you guys know."

Jake Browning Takes Over

Browning moves into the starting lineup after helping guide the Bengals past the Jaguars in Week 2.

He completed 21-of-32 passes for 241 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also scored the game winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak.

What's the most challenging part of taking over for Burrow after being the backup?

"Over the course of the season, you haven't gotten all the game reps," Taylor said. "So number one, the hardest thing about entering a game as it's happening is you didn't go in getting all the reps at the starter got during the week. I mean, that's a third down specific day, a red zone specific day. So a lot of times you're doing it live versus 11 other guys for the first time, even with our receivers, might have done it on air. So it's always impressive when a guy's able to go in and do what Jake did and execute a plan that he really hadn't operated in with the rest of our team. And so did a great job of that. So now you get a chance to calm down a little bit, and he's going to get all those reps. And so I like where he's at right now. He's in great head space."

The Bengals are hoping to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2015. They're 2-0 for the first time since 2018 and have won their first two games by a combined five points (17-16 Week 1, 31-27 Week 2).

Listen to Taylor's entire press conference ahead of Wednesday's practice below:

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor says the door isn’t closed on Joe Burrow returning to the field this season. pic.twitter.com/xoqCGRX5v3
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) September 17, 2025

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