Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow reportedly will not make his return Sunday against the New England Patriots despite being listed listed as questionable to play on Friday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Burrow won’t be moved to the Bengals’ active roster “just yet” and will remain on injured reserve. Joe Flacco will remain the team’s starter, per Rapoport.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed to Burrow being a full participant in practice Wednesday as a sign he may suit up earlier than expected.
“People had been talking about Buffalo in two weeks or Baltimore on Thanksgiving night, but the fact of the matter is Burrow has a chance to return Sunday,” the NFL insider said on SportsCenter. “It will depend on how he feels this weekend at practice, how his foot responds to treatment. It’s two months out of surgery for his turf toe, and he has obviously come back sooner than people expected he would.
“The question is whether it will be for this Sunday and it certainly sounds like there’s a chance for that, especially considering that they’re past starting quarterback Joe Flacco, who replaced Joe Burrow, was limited in practice yesterday with a shoulder injury. So, Flacco limited, Burrow full, you tell me what that sounds like.”
Burrow also took first team snaps during Thursday’s practice, furthering the possibility of a return on Sunday.
“Joe’s been looking outstanding, man,” Tee Higgins told reporters Thursday. “He’s slinging it deep, short routes. Everything’s been pretty good.”
After his recovery from toe surgery in September that was expected to sideline him for three months, Burrow’s 21-day practice window was opened on Nov. 10, and he said that he was targeting a return for Cincinnati’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Baltimore Ravens. If he isn’t able to make it back for that game, there will still be days remaining in his practice window for the Bengals to potentially activate him from injured reserve ahead of their Week 14 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
While Cincinnati has endured a disastrous season with a record of 3-7, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that what “appears clear is that Burrow wants to play football, record be damned.”
The Bengals tried to replace Burrow with longtime backup Jake Browning before trading for Flacco. In five games with Cincinnati, Flacco has produced 1,453 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions, but the 40-year-old is simply a stopgap until Burrow returns.
Getting Burrow back in the lineup will be a much-needed dose of positivity for Cincinnati, but the team is staring at a third straight season of missing the playoffs, so it isn’t a surprise that the Bengals continue to take a cautious approach to his recovery.
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