Bengals star rookie quarterback Joe Burrow was carted off the field on Sunday with a knee injury and will not return against the Washington Football team according to the team’s official Twitter account.
On a record-setting rookie pace, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was carted off the field with a knee injury on Sunday. Burrow has been ruled out for the rest of the game by the Bengals via their official Twitter account. It is hard to speculate but the consensus from the media is the injury appears serious.
Second-year quarterback Ryan Finley who was 0-3 in 2019 with two TDs and two interceptions has replaced Burrow. Burrow was 22-34 for 203 one TD with no interceptions and a 90.7 passer rating on Sunday before suffering the injury. Finley was beyond inefficient replacing an injured Andy Dalton last season.
Finley completed 47.1 percent of his passes for 474 yards, just an average of 158 per game which is a near-perfect passer rating but anemic otherwise, a 62.1 passer rating and 23.7 QBR in 2019. The injury to Burrow comes at a time when the Bengals should have been able to build momentum for the future.
The injured occurred with Cincinnati leading 9-7 on third and two from their own 10. Washington scored a TD on its next drive to go in front 14-9 and added field goals on their two subsequent drive to take a 20-9 lead. The Bengals play the Giants, Dolphins and Cowboys the next three weeks and Houston week 16.
Injury Update: Joe Burrow has been declared out with a left knee injury.
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 22, 2020
Losing Burrow at this stage of the season hurts any momentum the Bengals could have built for next season. The dropoff from Burrow to Finley is obviously immense. Losing the face and leader of the franchise with six games remaining after Washington can deflate an entire organization.
The Bengals now have to look forward. Hopefully, the injury will not be as serious as expected. There are other young players on the Cincinnati roster like wide receiver Tee Higgins who still have a chance to mature and grow this season. It’s a devastating injury and the rest of the Bengals need to rally around each other.