Bengals Players Put on Brave Faces as They Brace for Life Without Joe Burrow, However Long That May Be

The full ramifications of Joe Burrow’s wrist injury are unknown as the Cincinnati Bengals travel home from Baltimore following a 34-20 loss to the Ravens on Thursday.

Head coach Zac Taylor did not have any information about the severity of the injury other than to say, “it looked like he sprained his wrist.”

There will be tests on Burrow’s right wrist on Friday, and they should provide clarity on whether his absence will be long term, short term or none at all, although the latter seems to be a long shot after Burrow could not even hold onto the ball while attempting a few warmup throws after exiting the game in pain.

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That means backup quarterback Jake Browning would be in line to make his first NFL start a week from Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the league’s No. 1 defense.

Baltimore’s No. 2-ranked defense made things rough on Browning and the Bengals offense as a whole, but players in the locker room were putting a brave face, saying they cannot just win with Browning, but win consistently enough over the final seven games of the season to reach the playoffs.

“It hurt because I always say Joe gives us our best chance to win any football games, but moving forward, Jake got us, and we’ve got to rally him up and rally around him,” wide receiver Tyler Boyd said.

“It’s just tough seeing that happen in a game like this,” wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase added. “Next man up is what I’ve always heard and been told, so the new guy’s gotta step up and we’ve got to adjust and make plays.”

Running back Joe Mixon said he addressed the team in the locker room after the game. He didn’t want to get into details of what he said, but theme was him urging everybody to  stick together.

“I know we have the guys in this here locker room,” Mixon said. “They all made of the right things. I mean, that’s why they here. We’ve got to figure out a way to get everybody on the same schedule and the same wave and pick up where they (the injured players) left off.”

Burrow obviously is the biggest loss, but the Bengals also have been without wide receiver Tee Higgins and defensive end Sam Hubbard for two games and lost starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt to a quad injury Thursday night.

Thursday’s loss dropped the Bengals to 5-5 overall, 1-5 in the conference and 0-3 in the division, giving them long odds to overcome if they want to reach the playoffs for a third consecutive year.

Those odds would be challenging with a fully healthy roster, which the Bengals are far from possessing.

Taylor said he liked the fight he saw from his team, despite the outcome, and that he has full faith the Bengals can beat the odds and enough of their remaining seven opponents to find their way back into the postseason.