There's a lot of blame being thrown around the Cincinnati Bengals and their organization regarding Joe Burrow's latest catastrophic injury.
Turf toe will keep Burrow sidelined for at least a few months, but blaming him for his injury woes feels misguided at best. It's no secret the Bengals' offensive line is the subject of a lot of scrutiny, given their perpetual inabilty to protect their franchise QB.
All that said, a prominent former Bengal is coming to the maligned o-line's defense. He suggests the Burrow injury debate requires more nuance than many want to give it credit for.
Ex-Bengals LT Andrew Whitworth believes Cincinnati o-line has NFL's 'most difficult job'
Andrew Whitworth played for Cincinnati from 2006 through 2016, racking up four Pro Bowl bids in that span as one of the league's best left tackles. He then proceeded to win Super Bowl LVI with the Rams at the Bengals' expense, yet "Whit" still has a lot of love for the Queen City.
In an interview with The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., Whitworth opined that blaming the offensive line exclusively for Burrow's most recent health setback is an oversimplified shortcut to explain the whole situation.
"I think it's lazy for people to just blame the offensive line for these issues. Because yes, what I would say is in years past, probably a couple years ago, they were probably rolling out there with a group that it was tough to see you protecting a guy who, that's how he has to live. But I feel like the argument that they haven't tried to is probably not a good one, because they’ve tried to."
Indeed, Burrow dragged a gaggle of underwhelming blockers to that Super Bowl berth, and soldiered through another long season and playoff run the following year. By the time the Bengals reached the AFC Championship Game, they were down three starters on the o-line. Still almost won in Kansas City to make it to the Super Bowl stage once again.
Whitworth's larger point certainly has merit. It's not as if Cincinnati has neglected the o-line or hasn't tried to upgrade the unit. The problem is, most of their efforts on that end have either flat-out backfired, or haven't been good enough relative to the rest of the NFL. Stats like these going viral certainly don't help the Bengals' league-wide perception:
Bengals pass pro ranks since drafting Joe Burrow (pass block win rate, per ESPN research):
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2025
🏈2020 (29th)⁰🏈2021 (30th)⁰🏈2022 (30th)⁰🏈2023 (27th)⁰🏈2024 (32nd)⁰🏈2025 (28th)
Burrow has not played behind an offensive line that didn't rank in the bottom quartile. pic.twitter.com/X7BgGllrCD
Another key takeaway from Whitworth's interview, though: The Bengals rely on true pass sets as much as any offense in the sport. This puts their men in the trenches in a difficult position — and according to Whitworth, blocking for Burrow in Cincinnati is the hardest job around:
"Without question, to me, I think it's the hardest place to play offensive line in the NFL. [...] I think that's the most difficult job in the entire NFL."
I don't disagree that the offense being so one-dimensional puts a lot of stress on the line. At the same time, the Bengals could've been more proactive at upgrading their starting five up front this offseason in particular. They spent less than a combined $4 million on guards Lucas Patrick and Dalton Risner, bringing the latter aboard just before the regular season began.
Those two moves, combined with the third-round selection of Dylan Fairchild out of Georgia, were believed by the front office to be enough. The interior o-line that gave Cincinnati so much trouble in 2024 would no longer be a glaring issue. Except through two games, Burrow is already hurt for the long haul again due to a routine pass protection breakdown on a four-man rush.
The Bengals do themselves no favors by employing the NFL's smallest scouting department. They also drag their feet on contract extensions for key players, which limits how aggressive they can be in free agency to go after the very best talent available.
Burrow's new injury stems more from a flaw in the brain trust's thought process about personnel and big-picture team building than the players who are on the field, who are doing their absolute best to keep the face of their organization upright and healthy.
You just have to wonder if the Bengals will ever learn from their missteps of the past. At this point, it might be too late, and Burrow may be on more of an Andrew Luck-esque trajectory than anyone wants to admit.