A Timeline of Joe Burrow’s Injury History, and Why the Bengals QB Isn’t Sweating This One

Nearly three years to the day after suffering a season-ending ACL injury at Washington, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is dealing with devastating news again, with tests on his injured right wrist confirming he will need surgery and is done for the year.

Burrow met with the media shortly after head coach Zac Taylor announced the injury would be season-ending.

“It’s tough,” Burrow said. “You work so hard for seasons and moments like these, so whenever you get hurt, and it ends it early, it’s tough to handle. But that’s part of the game. Been through it before.”

“Been through it before” refers to far more than the ACL he suffered on Nov. 22, 2020.

Joe Burrow’s Injury History

Since then, his list of injuries is extensive for someone just four seasons and 52 games into a career.

• Throat. Suffered in an overtime loss against Green Bay on Oct. 10, Burrow was on the injury report for two weeks and, conveniently perhaps, did not do any media during that time to rest his voice.
• Right pinky. Burrow’s hand got pinned beneath him while trying to recover his own fumble after being sacked by the Chargers’ Uchenna Nwosu in the first quarter. Burrow finished the game and was on the injury report with “finger/knee” the following week, missing one practice and going limited in another. He played the following week at Denver but then missed another practice the Wednesday after that before coming off the injury report.
• Right MCL sprain: Suffered while being sacked during Super Bowl LVI, Burrow was back to full strength by training camp.
• Appendix. Not knowing what he was feeling, Burrow tried to ignore the pain in his abdomen until his appendix burst at the start of the training camp, and he had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Burrow missed three weeks of camp and still was not 100 percent when he returned.
• Right elbow. Burrow injured it during the Week 14 win against Cleveland last year. He was on the injury report the following week but was a full participant in every session and led the team to a victory at Tampa Bay.
• Right calf. Burrow went down on the second day of training camp this year and missed and five weeks before returning well below 100 percent. It wasn’t until Week 5 that he looked as though he had put the calf injury completely behind him.

Burrow suffered the wrist injury with 5:49 left in the second quarter Thursday while throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Joe Mixon to give the Bengals a 10-7 lead in a game they would go on to lose 34-20.

MORE: Cincinnati Bengals Depth Chart

He said the injury happened on the play before the touchdown when Baltimore edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney took him to the ground after he let go of a pass that went for a nine-yard gain to Mixon.

Here's the play where Joe Burrow appears to have hurt his wrist after being hit by Jadeveon Clowneypic.twitter.com/OsZ8nvagzE

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 17, 2023

Burrow said he was unaware of whether the injury happened when his wrist hit the ground or when Clowney’s right arm came down on the wrist as it was flush against the turf.

All he knows is another season has been cut short by injury.

Burrow said the news was tough to hear, but he isn’t concerned about the cumulative effect all of his injuries have taken on him mentally, as well as physically.

“Just going to treat it like anything else,” he said. “You analyze the situation, you go through the process of what it’s going to take to get back, and you go and do it. That’s all you can do.”

“I’ve been through stuff like this before. It’s nothing new,” he continued. “I’ve talked a lot about leaning on your support system. I’ve got a great support system. Great friends, great family (to) help me get through it. Great teammates. I’ll be around here. Not ideal, but I’ve got what it takes, and the people around me got what it takes to get it done.”

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