Cincinnati’s playoff hopes have taken a massive hit with $275m star quarterback Joe Burrow injured in the 34-20 loss to AFC North rivals Baltimore on Friday.
Burrow, the man who led the Bengals to the 2023 Super Bowl, grabbed at his wrist late in the second term and was seen clearly wincing in pain as he practised on the sidelines.
After heading into the rooms, Burrow was ruled out of the contest with rookie Jake Browning injected against a top-ranked Ravens defence.
Watch an average 6 NFL games each week LIVE on ESPN via Kayo Sports. Join now and start streaming instantly >
“He cannot grip the ball. He cannot raise his elbow. … He’s obviously in pain,” sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung said of Burrow.
The injury came hours after now-deleted footage emerged of Burrow getting off the team bus with the same wrist in an apparent guard.
“Getting off the plane last night, you saw Joe Burrow and the device on his hand,” commentator Al Michaels said.
“Everything seemed according to the Bengals fine. But here he was on the sideline in agony.”
Coach Zac Taylor confirmed Burrow was battling a wrist injury, but didn’t have further details on the “tough” injury blow.
“It looked like he sprained his wrist. He fell on it early in the game and then felt it on the touchdown pass,” Taylor said.
“Obviously when you lose your starting quarterback, it’s disappointing. It’s tough.”
But he played down the pre-game Burrow injury fears.
“That was the first I saw anything about it,” Taylor said.
“Look how he played in the first half.
“He did everything we needed him to do.”
Bengal Joe Mixon admitted he had no idea Burrow left the game late in the second term amid on-field confusion.
“I didn’t know at all,” he said post-game.
“(Teammates) were saying, ‘Where’s Joe?’ when we went out there before the end of the half and, sure enough, he wasn’t out there and after that it was what it was.
“When he went out, people were feeling a certain type of way, especially him because he’s such a competitor. But everyone still stuck in there and did what we could to fight.”
Already without injured star Tee Higgins, the Bengals also lost starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt with a quadriceps injury.
“It hurts us a lot,” Tyler Boyd said of the loss of Burrow.
“That’s our best player. All we can do is keep preparing, keep moving forward and just go out there and make plays for Jake any way we can.”
Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning was able to pilot a 67-yard drive capped by a field goal to open the second half with Burrow ruled out.
But by the time he connected with Ja’Marr Chase with a two-yard TD toss with 1:08 to play, the game was out of the Bengals’ reach.
Taylor said he was pleased with what he saw from Browning in just his second NFL game.
“I thought there was some positive things from Jake,” he said.
“That’s a tough defence to face in your first NFL action. I thought he competed and did some good things for us.”
I didn’t feel like I was out of place or anything like that,“ Browning added post-game.
“I felt calm. Felt like we were going to go out and win the game.
“I wasn’t mooning (about having to come in for Burrow) – I was like, ‘here we go. Let’s go win the game’. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”
The Bengals won the AFC North the past two seasons, but their chances of climbing off the bottom of the division have taken a massive hit if Burrow remains sidelined.
The Ravens’ win ensures they’ve strengthened their hold on the NFL’s AFC North division, despite losing tight end Mark Andrews in the first quarter with an ankle injury and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to an apparent shoulder issue with less than five minutes to play.
In better news for Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson was able to shrug off an ankle issue to throw for 264 yards and three touchdowns.
The Ravens lead the division from Pittsburgh (6-3) and Cleveland (6-3) – but the Browns have just lost quarterback Deshaun Watson for the remainder of the season in a big injury blow.
-With AFP
Discussion about this post