Cincinnati star quarterback Joe Burrow needs season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist.
The NFL is investigating the team’s reporting of Burrow’s status going into last night’s 34-20 loss at Baltimore as a four-point road underdog. Before the game, video footage showed Burrow with a soft cast on his right hand as he got off the bus when the Bengals arrived at the stadium.
The video came from Cincinnati’s X account, but it was later deleted.
Burrow landed on his wrist before appearing to be in major pain after a touchdown pass to Joe Mixon. After coming off the field and going into the tent, Burrow emerged and tried to throw the ball, but he was unable to even get a firm grip.
He appeared to be in pain and extremely frustrated before jogging off the field and into the locker room. Burrow came back out and was on the sidelines in the second half with his right hand heavily wrapped.
Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor denied being aware of any issue with Burrow’s wrist before the game.
“That was the first I saw anything about it,” Taylor said, adding that he “absolutely” felt good about Burrow heading into the AFC North showdown.
With Burrow out, Cincinnati backup QB Jake Browning completed 8-of-14 passes for 68 yards and one touchdown without an interception. The 27-year-old Browning had only attempted one career pass, which was an incompletion, in the NFL before entering last night’s contest.
After a 1-3 start to the year, the Bengals ripped off four straight wins with Burrow throwing 10 TD passes compared to only two interceptions before hosting Houston this past Sunday.
However, the Texans got a walk-off field goal to win 30-27 at Cincinnati, with Burrow throwing a pair of interceptions. On Thursday at Baltimore, the LSU product completed 11-of-17 throws for 101 yards and one TD without an interception.
Burrow’s fourth NFL season ends with a 66.8 completion percentage, 2,309 passing yards and a 15/6 TD-INT ratio. He also had a season-ending knee injury during Week 11 of his rookie campaign in 2020.
Between that rookie year and this season, though, Burrow led the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI in 2021 and a repeat trip to the AFC Championship Game last year.
In 52 career regular-season games, Burrow has completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 14,083 yards with a 97/37 TD-INT ratio. He also has 605 career rushing yards and 10 TDs.
In seven career starts in the playoffs, Burrow has a 5-2 record. He’s completed 67.3 percent of his throws for 1,826 yards with a 9/4 TD-INT ratio. Burrow has 101 career rushing yards and one TD in the postseason.
Before Thursday’s loss, most books had Cincinnati’s odds to win Super Bowl LVII in the 12/1 neighborhood. FanDuel now lists the Bengals with 150/1 odds.
They’ll take a 5-5 straight-up record and a 4-5-1 against-the-spread mark into a Week 12 home game vs. Pittsburgh.