On Friday, Nov. 17, it was announced that Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow would miss the rest of the 2023 NFL season with a torn ligament in his throwing wrist. In the team’s 34-20 loss to the Ravens, Burrow could be seen wincing in pain after throwing a touchdown pass to running back Joe Mixon.
On the sidelines, Burrow attempted to go grip and throw the football, but as he tried to grip the ball it slipped out of his hand — further proof that something was really wrong. With their playoff lives already teetering, the Bengals at 5-5 must try to salvage the rest of their season minus their franchise QB.
A pretty-dejected Burrow told reporters this on Friday, “The play before it happened, I landed on the wrist a little bit, and the next play, the touchdown pass, just felt a pop in the middle of the throw. Tried to give it a go but just couldn’t get it done, and obviously got the news today, so not great.”
Burrow also mentioned that the injury had nothing to do with him being seen wearing a brace on his right wrist as the team traveled on Wednesday. But the league is reportedly looking into if the Bengals withheld injury information on Burrow’s condition.
Burrow’s Injury History A Product Of Front-Office Failures
Since arriving in Cincinnati in 2020, Burrow has been one of the most sacked (148 sacks in just 52 career starts) and hit quarterbacks in the league. One would think for a guy of his stature, having led the franchise to a Super Bowl and back-to-back AFC Championship appearances, that team brass would do everything in its power to protect him.
He’s now in his fourth season, and thus far they haven’t done a good enough job of it. That’s played a role in him missing what will now be 15 career games in under four full NFL seasons.
Team Attempted To Rectify OL Issues This Past Offseason
In 2022, the Bengals ranked 30th in pass blocking win rate, and Burrow was sacked 38 times while in the pocket (fourth worst in the league). That forced Bengals brass to go out and make some changes to the unit, and while they did the unit on paper is a huge upgrade. But as of now it seems that they’re having trouble meshing, and that can’t happen when you’re trying to keep your star player upright.
That lack of continuity played a role in Burrow now being lost for the season, and for all intents and purposes, likely ended the Bengals season just 10 weeks in as well.
