Since his terrifying knee injury last season, Joe Burrow hasn’t played in a live football game, but is he playing in the Cincinnati Bengals‘ preseason finale? Is it smart for someone with an injury such as his to get some game reps in before the regular-season bullets start flying? Zac Taylor made his announcement regarding the situation on Wednesday.
Is Joe Burrow playing today?
Why yes, Burrow is playing against the Miami Dolphins to finish the Bengals’ preseason schedule. Generally, I’m against key players taking preseason reps, but things are a bit different, given the nature of Burrow’s injury.
See, he’s really just coming off the injury. He hasn’t had but a few weeks to really get to trust the knee. And, to this point, he is yet to get hit. Burrow must learn to trust that his leg will hold up when he does. He must become comfortable with the contact again.
This is an incredibly fine line that the Bengals are playing with. If Burrow goes down, their season is over, and Taylor is probably looking for a new gig. But as comfortable as Burrow may have become during practices, it’s not the same as the real thing. Getting hit will be the true test.
He has to be ready for the workload
His pace last season was nearly unbelievable. At the time of his injury, Burrow was on pace for a ridiculous 770 pass attempts. Bengals fans shouldn’t hope for that in 2021. That would mean the Bengals are down in a lot of games and probably throwing the ball 65% of the time or more because they’re trying to crawl back into games.
The other reason why that number isn’t great is it allows for more opportunities to get hit, which he most certainly will. Burrow isn’t a running quarterback, but he is mobile. He has an incredible feel for evading pressure and making plays, despite not being the most impressive athlete in the world. But as a playmaker, it also means he’ll take more risks and more shots as a result.