Joe Burrow Could Return Much Sooner Than Expected After Being Cleared for Practice

CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was officially cleared for practice on Monday. Could he return for Cincinnati's Thanksgiving showdown with the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football?

NFL insider Jay Glazer shared some insight after the Bengals announced Burrow was cleared for practice.

"Last week Joe Burrow told me he’s returning wayyyy sooner than was expected and gave me the timeline of 'Thanksgiving-ish,'" Glazer tweeted. "Now will start practicing on a limited basis. Absolutely unreal attack of rehab and response. At first medical people didn’t believe he’d be back before playoffs. Huggggge jump for him! He’s a G!"

The Bengals can activate Burrow to the 53-man roster anytime between now and Dec. 1. He won't play on Sunday against the Steelers Cincinnati hosts New England the following week on Nov. 23.

If the Bengals can win one or both of those games, it wouldn't be shocking to see Burrow start against the Ravens on Thanksgiving. The AFC North is wide open at the moment. If the Bengals win a few games, then they'll be in the thick of the division race going into that primetime matchup against Baltimore.

Burrow hasn't played since suffering a grade 3 toe sprain in Week 2. He underwent surgery a few days later.

"I think he's ready for this part of the recovery," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday. "To come back in a limited basis and progress on the field with the players. So I think he's at a good point internally. This was always a good timeline for us. He's worked really hard to get to this point, to be back on the field and in a limited form. And so I'm excited to get him out there today. We're not looking at him playing Sunday. This is a start with this week. He's got the 21-day window that we've activated, and so the timeline will be beyond that."

The door certainly sounds open for Burrow to return on Thanksgiving night in Baltimore.

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