Joe Burrow Drawing Closer to Play Maybe in Week 12

Joe Burrow is getting closer to playing competitive NFL football. On Wednesday, he participated in his first full practice in two months. Here is the latest.

Injured Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) walks the field shaking hands after the NFL Week 7 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The Bengals won, 33-31. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joe Burrow was thought to be out until almost Christmas. For most players, his toe surgery would have kept the player out for at least three months and maybe longer. Burrow has been a superhuman in his recovery.

Already, he has been a full participant in practice and expect the workload to only go up from there.

Zac Taylor speaking with @ThomBrennamanTV on @700wlw said "we don't know yet" if Joe Burrow is playing Sunday. When asked directly if Burrow is playing Sunday: "I'm not there yet. One day at practice isn't going to lead to that decision yet."

Yet.

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) November 20, 2025

The basics boil down to this. Taylor will look at another practice and hopefully make his decision later on Thursday. Keep in mind, there is no guarantee here.

Impacts And Scenarios With An Earlier Burrow Return

Some things we know and some we do not. From what has been seen in practice, Burrow is moving around rather well. Game action is different always and that has to be the caution here. One thing is clear. If the quarterback does not play on Sunday, do not be surprised if he plays on Thanksgiving.

That seems to be the prevailing thought and trend. Questions of being injury prone and such are for another time. Burrow believes he can help the 3-7 Cincinnati Bengals go on a run. No one has truly separated themselves in the AFC North. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Cleveland all have their own quarterback issues.

Aaron Rodgers has a wrist injury. Lamar Jackson now has an ankle problem. Cleveland is on its 434th quarterback in 2025 after Dillion Gabriel went on concussion protocol. Shedeur Sanders is poised to start this weekend. Simply, Cincinnati thinks they have a chance here and Burrow indeed could give this a go far sooner than anyone expected.

He will not have Ja'Marr Chase to throw to if he starts Week 12. Chase was suspended pending a longshot appeal. Tee Higgins will probably be covered by Christian Gonzalez all day. That means Noah Fant, Chase Brown, Mitchell Tinsley, and Andrei Iosivas will have to pick up the slack.

There is still plenty of unknown here. Bengals Beat has this pegged pretty well. There are a few scenarios.

• Start Burrow Week 12 with Flacco as backup and Jake Browning as the emergency quarterback.

• At 3-7, shut him down for the season. Seems unlikely. Burrow helped the Bengals win five straight at the end of 2024. He makes a difference.

• Work him in now so he is ready for Thanksgiving against Baltimore.

• Wait till Week 14 and give him even more time and a meeting with Buffalo.

Anything is possible.

Updates Are Certain To Come

As always, the goal is to keep the updates coming. People want to know if Burrow is going to play. There are risks surely but from what has been seen, the quarterback is hungry to play. Now will Zac Taylor feed the need or will they wait?

Then it becomes how long do the Cincinnati Bengals wait. Does their All-Pro hold all or most of the cards? Will the organization try to hold this back or will they damn the torpedoes? While it is nice to see Burrow progressing so quickly, time will tell when the return will come. That time is certainly drawing closer and quickly.