Cincinnati Bengals: 5 players who are big injury risks in 2021

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 17: Tight end C.J. Uzomah #87 of the Cincinnati Bengals is taken off the field after an injury during the second half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 17, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Bengals 35-30. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

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Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Biggest Injury Risks for Cincinnati Bengals – No. 2: Joe Burrow

Bengals fans were loving what they were seeing from rookie quarterback Joe Burrow until he was injured in a Week 11 game against Washington. The injury sidelined Burrow for the rest of the season and now that he’s been injured for an extended period of time once, the chances of it happening again increase tremendously.

NFL teams can typically only go as far as their quarterback can take them and if Burrow is injured again, it’ll destroy the Bengals’ chances of being relevant. Burrow was injured because the Bengals’ offensive line couldn’t protect him well enough and he kept getting hit until finally, one hit finally took him out for the remainder of the season.

While the Bengals improved their o-line this offseason, will it be good enough to keep Burrow upright? It’s even more important that the unit protect him now that he’s suffered a knee injury because any more hits to him there could be a lot worse than him missing six games.