Without question, Joe Burrow is one of the best quarterbacks in the game. He has the potential, if surrounded by the right supporting cast (most notably, offensive line and defense) to become an all-time great.
But it’s hard to deny one key fact. He gets injured. A lot.
The best ability, as the cliche goes, is availability. (Cliches usually become cliche because they’re true.) And of the current group of the best quarterbacks in the league, Burrow is the one who has missed the most time. In six seasons, he has now had three serious injuries.
It’s not because he’s fragile. It’s because he’s fearless. To a fault.
If it’s fair to make that part of the overall evaluation of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, it’s fair to make it part of the overall evaluation of Burrow.
From a torn ACL in 2020 to a season-ending wrist injury in 2023 to a torn toe ligament(s) that will keep him out until the middle of December at the earliest (by the time he’s healthy, the season could be lost), three of Burrow’s six seasons have been derailed by an inability to suit up and play for an extended stretch of the calendar.
Some have already begun to compare him to Andrew Luck. Which opens the door to the question of whether, like Luck, Burrow will decide to prematurely pull the plug on playing. Surgery is a big deal. Rehab can be grueling. Pain, discomfort, medication, etc. All in the name of coming back and potentially being injured all over again.
Luck had enough before he turned 30. Burrow turns 29 on December 10.
While it’s unthinkable to think Burrow will retire early, it was unthinkable to think Luck would do it — until he did. It’s also possible that Burrow will realize the Bengals will never make the financial commitment necessary to put the right pieces around him, and that before calling it quits he’ll decide to try to play for a team that can, and will, spend the cash necessary to get the most out of his skills, abilities, and physical sacrifices.
However it plays out, it has now become glaring. He’s in the current quartet of the best in the game, with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson (not necessarily in that order). But Burrow is the only one to have a serious, multi-month injury.
And he’s had three of them.
Fourteen years ago, Carson Palmer realized that the organization’s decision to prioritize money over winning required him to move on. As Burrow spends the next three months coming back from his latest major injury, it would be foolish to think he’s not having similar thoughts.
