Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took some time to himself to grieve his latest injury. However, thanks again to his indefatigable resilience, Burrow was back at the podium on Monday to face the media before his highly anticipated return.
While Burrow's 21-day window to be activated off injured reserve is open, it'll still be at least a couple games before he's back in action. Or at least that's the plan, provided the 3-6 Bengals don't backslide to 3-8 by then.
So what drives Joe Brrr beyond the inextinguishable competitive inferno that burns within him? Well, he got into that a little bit and sent a clear message to his Bengals teammates in the process.
Joe Burrow clings to 'wide-open' AFC North as hope for Bengals' turnaround
The outlook for the remainder of the 2025 season looks pretty bleak in Cincinnati. After the defense allowed 39 points to the previously winless Jets and 47 to the Bears in consecutive losses, almost all hope was lost in Who Dey Land.
But Burrow chose to look at the bright side, as he's prone to do. How else can he persevere through multiple catastrophic injuries? Or is he gaslighting himself to forget that he plays for the Bengals?
That last question was a joke. I promise. I love this team. I just don't love how they're managed a lot of the time.
Quite the preamble to what Joe actually said. OK so here it is (link to full presser here):
"Our division is wide-open…Pittsburgh's 5-4 at this point. We play them this week. Everything is still there in in front of us. Very rare that our division looks like this, but it does this year, and so I think we'll be at least in it until the end. […] I think it would be very difficult for us to be Wild Card team at this point. Obviously, a lot of football to be played, but no, I think that's difficult. I think our best path would be win the division."
OK like, in theory, the Bengals are indeed still alive in the division. Burrow tried to not throw the defense under the bus during his press conference, suggesting they just need to marry coverage and the pass rush better, and that guys put good stuff on tape, particularly in the early part of the season.
I just don't think the bye week or any adjustments Zac Taylor, Al Golden, and the coaching staff make are going to lead to any meaningful defensive improvement. The unit is so bad at all three levels.
DJ Turner can cover. Anyone else in the secondary or the linebacker corps? Not so much.
Trey Hendrickson can rush the passer. Anyone else on the defensive line? Not really at all. And Hendrickson is hurt right now, too.
Having said that, if Cincinnati can just improve from the 32nd-ranked defense to, like, the 27th...? Then shoot, with the way the offense is playing under Joe Flacco, never mind once Burrow returns, this team can hang with anyone!
It's just that...that's the biggest "if" in the history of if's.
The NFL started tracking points per drive in 2000.
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) November 3, 2025
Yep, the 2025 #Bengals defense is the worst through the first 9 games of a season. pic.twitter.com/w8QJv018va
Now let's get optimistic. The Bengals did beat the Steelers in Week 7 sans Hendrickson. Pittsburgh has lost two of three since. Baltimore is on a three-game winning streak to rally back to 4-5, but Cincinnati controls its destiny against its bitter foe with impending matchups in Weeks 13 and 15.
Sweeping the Steelers is critical to the Bengals' hopes of capturing the AFC North. Splitting with the Ravens is fine as long as you basically run the table from there on. Only problem with that is, Week 12's duel with the 8-2 Patriots could shrink the margin for error in swift fashion.
For Burrow to come back versus Baltimore on Thanksgiving, it'd mean a short week of preparation, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Ideally, Flacco could rattle off three wins including that holiday affair, get the Bengals back to 6-6, and set up Burrow for Week 14's road trip to Buffalo.
Guess we'll see how frisky Joey Franchise is once these Steelers and Patriots games happen.