The Cincinnati Bengals fell to 7-5 on Sunday after losing to the Los Angeles Chargers. Joe Burrow can’t be blamed for the loss, as he did what he could and played through what has to be a painful injury to his pinky finger on his throwing hand.
Burrow discussed the injury with the media following Cincinnati’s 41-22 loss to the Chargers. He mentions how he dislocated his finger during the Bengals’ first offensive series of the game, which ended with a sack and fumble, giving the ball back to LA.
Burrow noted that sometimes you have to play through injuries.
Joe Burrow says dislocated his finger on the sack-fumble on the first series of the game.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) December 5, 2021
“You’ve got to play through injuries."
For those of you who saw the photo of Burrow’s swollen pinky finger, you’ll know what the guy was dealing with whenever he’d drop back to pass. That can’t be comfortable gripping a football and then being tasked with throwing it accurately.
Be that as it may, Burrow stayed out there despite his finger getting worse. He did say that he knew he could throw it even it was challenging.
Burrow: it got progressively worse a little bit. I decided I could throw it.
— Geoff Hobson (@GeoffHobsonCin) December 5, 2021
What every Bengals fan wants to know, however, is if this injury is going to sideline Burrow at all. He discussed that during his press conference following Cincy’s loss.
Joe Burrow on injury: “It’s just something I am going to have to deal with. I am not going to miss any games because of it. Unless it somehow gets worse which I can’t imagine it is going to, I am going to play next week.”
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 5, 2021
Joe Burrow: “I am not going to miss any games because of [his injury].”
While this should allow Bengals fans to exhale a bit, we obviously want Burrow to be healthy. He did say that he can’t imagine his finger being any more painful than it was and he knows his body better than we do. If he thinks it’ll be better from here on out, we have no reason not to believe him.
Burrow says he can't imagine the pinkie feeling any worse than it did during the game, confident he'll play next week vs. 49ers. Said he had to decide between making dislocated pinkie feeling better and continue to play. He chose to play. #Bengals
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 5, 2021
Burrow has impressed people this season as is but going out there and battling with a dislocated pinky finger is all-time toughness. No one can question this kid’s toughness ever again (not that they were before time).
Burrow finished the game with 300 yards passing off of 24 completions with one touchdown and two interceptions while running in for a touchdown. His offensive line did him no favors, as he was sacked a whopping six times. Yes, having two reserve linemen in there didn’t help but Jonah Williams wasn’t exactly having a stellar game.
We saw a lot from Burrow on Sunday and he gave it everything he had. He’s proven to be the quarterback the Cincinnati Bengals need to get over the playoff hump.