Joe Burrow Clarifies Practice Injury Limitation Ahead of Houston Texans Matchup

Joe Burrow is already a little banged up to start the 2026 NFL season.

He ran the ball a few times into big hits on Sunday, and the lingering after effects limited his throwing on Wednesday and kept him from full team stretch/practice.

The Bengals star dove into the issue on the microphone in his weekly media session. He figures to be listed as limited on Wednesday's injury report with back tightness.

"It shouldn't really," Burrow said about the tightness hindering him in a big way this week at practice. "We get a lot of mental reps, and we walk through a lot of plays, so I'll be all right."

He is going to play through as much pain as he can take.

“Wvery game is so important to me. I will do what it takes to be out there. If I’m not getting surgery — I’ll be out there," Burrow said.

The 29-year-old went 25-of-35 passing in the game for 254 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Tampa Bay.

“Yeah, if I didn't have that interception, I'm feeling great walking out of here," Burrow said on Sunday. "You can't make plays like that. So, I have to get that fixed. But the offensive line was pretty lights out. I thought we ran the ball well. I gave the ball to my guys in space pretty quickly. We just have to keep playing better.”

All in all, he figures to be okay for the game on Sunday, but an injury this early gives fans nightmare flashbacks to so many issues of years past.

He has a bunch of goals fueling him this season, and the entire franchise's championship hopes rest on his now banged-up shoulders.

"I didn't fulfill my goals during that part of my life at that institution, and I would say that I've fulfilled a lot of goals in my professional career, but I also have a lot that I still am chasing and want to fulfill, and I work really hard every day to do that, and we have the right guys over there in that locker room that see it the same way that I do," Burrow said to Marty Smith recently. "Want to go and achieve greatness, and that's a great feeling to be around that every single day because you push each other towards that.

"The injuries have been difficult to overcome, but I'm really proud of the way that I have overcome them and continue to go out and play at a high level despite all of that, and I have a great team that has helped me do that."

Check out footage below of where the injury may have ocurred:

pic.twitter.com/YsU9IxdbjU
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) September 16, 2026

This is the only throw I saw Joe Burrow make at practice when the media was allowed to watch #Bengals pic.twitter.com/iZBMVgAqim
— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 16, 2026

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