Joe Burrow Ready For Return to Football in First Holiday Game of His Bengals Career

CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow is as excited as ever to get back on the field in time for his first holiday game as an NFL starting quarterback. The recovery is complete for the Bengals star as he gets back onto the field Thursday night for his first game action since the Week 2 win over the Jaguars.

Cincinnati unfortunately, won just one game over that stretch and has to win out to have any chance at making the playoffs, but the "football player" is just glad to be playing football again.

"You start to learn more about it and start to ask questions about things you can and can't do," Burrow saifd about the speed of his rehab. "You know, what do we have to avoid in certain time periods post surgery? Kind of take it as it goes."

Burrow isn't giving up on the Bengals' postseason chances yet, even though they can't get much closer to 0%. ESPN's Football Power Index gives them a 1% chance to make the playoffs, with the only path being a 9-8 record and a collapse from the Ravens down the stretch.

Burrow will have to win in Baltimore to keep any of those paths alive. He can't wait to be one of the lucky quarterbacks that gets to play on Thanksgiving.

"A lot of respect for the people on the outside of the ball, but you play people twice a year, you get tired of them, you don't like them," Burrow said about taking on the Raven Thursday. "It's a division rivalry. You got respect for them, but intense out there, something I wanted to be out there for playing on Thanksgiving, something I've always wanted to do, that I've pushed for in the past, and the NFL gave it to us, and then the injury happened, and thought I wasn't gonna be able to play.

"And then as we got closer, I felt like it was a real possibility. So that's exciting to me, and it's a national stage to go out and prove yourself again after not playing for several weeks, and every opportunity that you get to go prove all the hard work that you've put in the type of player you are is something that I try to take advantage of."

The big man on the Bengals campus gets back to action on Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET.

"That'll serve me well this week, full week where you know you're expecting to play, you're going through your preparation like you're gonna play, and then it doesn't happen," Burrow said about last week's practices. "It's good to have that under your belt to then go into this week where we're not going to get a ton of full speed reps. So Thursday night against a team that played a million times.

"I've been in that spot before, and trust the decision makers, and trust the medical people and everybody that was involved in the decision making. And I thought we made a good decision. And now this week, we'll be ready to go."

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