Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow spoke to the media for the first time since undergoing season-ending wrist surgery in November.
Monday was the final day the Bengals’ 2023 roster will be together. Several key players are scheduled to be free agents and change will take place as it does each year.
For the second time in his young career, Burrow’s offseason will be spent mostly rehabbing as he works his way back onto the field. This is arguably the most important offseason of Burrow’s career from a health standpoint.
The Bengals and Burrow linked themselves together through the 2029 season when both sides agreed on a five-year extension worth $275 million in September. Cincinnati’s front office paid him hoping he’ll keep the franchise in contention for years to come.
For him to do that, he needs to be on the field. Two of his four seasons in the NFL have ended with him undergoing a significant surgical procedure. He’s also missed the majority of training camp each year in the last two seasons due to health reasons. In 2022, Burrow underwent an emergency appendectomy that forced him to miss all but the final week of the preseason.
After a year? On the second practice day, Burrow strained his calf, which kept him out of the whole training camp. After re-injuring his calf in Week 2, he tore the scapholunate ligament in his throwing hand, ending his season just as he was beginning to settle into a rhythm.
“The year was peculiar,” Burrow remarked on Monday. We never felt as though we had fully realized our potential. Naturally, an accident occurred at the exact point in the year where we typically begin to make the leap that we have in previous years. It was a difficult year.
The team appreciates Burrow’s voice inside the company. These are the main points he made before starting his second offseason. He covered a lot of ground that will be covered frequently in the coming months.
Will he be able to include the off-season exercise regimen? When asked for specifics and an estimated time frame for his return to being able to hold a football, Burrow was reticent. Before he can start throwing again, a lot more needs to happen. He hopes to be able to take part in May’s organized team activities (OTAs).
“I have to see. I think … I should be good by OTAs,” he said. “But we’ll see pretty early on to, really, tell you.”
Sources indicate the timeline for return from the injury is four to six months. This ligament is in the middle of the wrist between the scaphoid and lunate bones. It’s an important wrist-stabilizing ligament.
