Bengals star QB Joe Burrow out 'several weeks' with calf strain, season opener in question
The Cincinnati Bengals are preparing for another preseason without star quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow’s calf strain is expected to keep him out several weeks, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Friday. But it’s unclear if Burrow could ultimately miss time during the Bengals regular season.
“Calf strain. It’ll take several weeks,” Taylor said after Friday’s practice, “and that’s the information we’ve got right now.”
When Taylor was asked if Burrow’s injury could extend into the Bengals' regular season, which begins on the road – in six weeks – against the in-state rival Cleveland Browns on Sept. 10, Taylor said:
“Several weeks is several weeks.”
Burrow is entering his fourth season as the Bengals' star quarterback with high expectations and a potential contract extension in the works.
Burrow suffered the non-contact injury toward the end of Thursday’s practice and needed to be taken off the field on a cart.
Burrow immediately went down to the field and grabbed his right leg after rolling out to his right during a play in 11-on-11 drills. Burrow pulled up and hopped on his left leg until his momentum stopped on the play.
Burrow practiced with a compression sleeve around his right calf muscle before the injury occurred. Taylor said Burrow wore it to cope with “some soreness after the first day” of training camp Wednesday.
Taylor added the Bengals will likely add another quarterback to their roster to join backups Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian in Burrow’s absence.
The No. 1 pick of the 2020 NFL draft led the Bengals to Super Bowl 56 during his second season. Cincinnati fell to the eventual-champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game last season.
Burrow has been in negotiations for a new contract extension that could eclipse Justin Herbert’s new five-year, $262.5 million extension with $218.7 million in guarantees, which the Los Angeles Chargers star agreed to earlier this week. Herbert is currently the highest-paid player in the NFL annually at $52.5 million.
Burrow was second in the NFL with 35 touchdowns and 4,475 yards passing last season, with only Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes surpassing him. His 68.3% completion rate also ranked second, trailing only Seattle Seahawks starter Geno Smith's mark of 69.8%.
Burrow’s 2022 training camp was cut short due to an appendix removal, and his 2021 preseason was shortened to help in his recovery from a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee during his rookie year in 2020.
Burrow has a 24-17-1 record as a three-year starter with the Bengals.