Super Bowl Champion Reacts to Joe Burrow's Desire to Return and Play for Bengals This Season

CINCINNATI ---- Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow was designated to return this week. He underwent toe surgery less than two months ago. Now he's back and hoping to play in the near future.

Is it the right decision?

Super Bowl champion center and former NFL head coach Jeff Saturday thinks the answer is obvious.

"Absolutely. If you're healthy, you play. I'm not sure what game y'all watch on Sundays, Saturdays, every other day of the week, but good gracious. Like I gotta go play? You're gonna go play. I mean it's dangerous for all of us. I don't think Joe Burrow would disagree with that at all. If you're healthy, you play in this game." Saturday said on ESPN's Get Up.

This sparked debate across the panel from the likes of Domonique Foxworth, Jason McCourty, and Dan Graziano.

"Well, whether he would disagree with it or not is not the point. Like, I get what you're saying. But there's a situation where the priority to get him back would be higher if this team felt like they had a real chance." Foxworth said in reference to the teams 3-6 record. "Joe Burrow is not gonna fix the problems that they have. Would they want to score 60 now? They're scoring 40 points a game without Joe Burrow. Like, you're gonna bring him back in this situation, and I know that presumably, if they bring him back, he's healthy enough to play. But you're opening him up to more risk. I'm not saying you don't bring him back, but don't rush him [back]."

McCourty then jumped in, giving his thoughts on Burrow's return, after playing back a clip from Joe Burrow's media press conference on Monday.

"I think what Burrow just said, he's not ready to play right now this day. He has a 21-day window." McCourty stated, giving context to the 21-day practice window for players activated from Injured Reserve.

"Let's see what the next 14 days look like. Let's see what the next two games look like before we're deciding." McCourty said. "If he progresses well and the team, we're just losing games. Say he doesn't come back, say, the next three games and they lose all three of those games, he's still coming off of surgery. So it's not as if it's the first game back off of surgery, you're 100%. It still takes time to work yourself back into a groove."

Finally, Graziano elaborated on how the Bengals two recent losses to the New York Jets and Chicago Bears have kept them from being the top team in the divsion.

"I mean, if they hold on to a two-touchdown fourth-quarter lead against the Jets, who had not won a game, instead of giving up a touchdown pass to from the running back, and if they had held on to a lead with 54 seconds left against the Bears, then they're 5-4, tied with Pittsburgh, who they beat." Graziano said. "They're two games out of first. And the first place team is a team they beat. They beat Pittsburgh again. They're a game. They haven't played Baltimore yet, y'know you're in it. So I'm with Jeff. Like I don't buy this whole argument of like, oh, sit him down to protect him."

Good Points

Bengals Joe Burrow (9) returns to practice on Monday November 10, 2025. | Phil Didion/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It is hard to argue against either side. Both Foxworth and McCourty are correct in that the Bengals' next two games are critical to whether or not the team should try to make a run with Burrow at quarterback this season, or turn to evaluation mode.

The same is also true, however, with Saturday and Graziano's feelings on the matter. Even with the losses to the Jets and Bears, the Bengals are somehow still only two games out of first place in the AFC North, and getting their star quarterback back into the starting lineup, even with the ability Joe Flacco has shown, would immediately make this team even more competitive down the latter stretch of the season.

Segment from @GetUpESPN with @Espngreeny on Joe Burrow returning to practice for the Bengals after having turf toe surgery earlier in the season. pic.twitter.com/oBplQX6gWB
— Landon Belote (@Landon_Belote) November 11, 2025

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