Injuries are an awful reality in football. Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals as they await Joe Burrow's recovery from his surgically repaired turf toe for the next few months.
Unfortunately, another superstar quarterback in the AFC North has gone down injured in the first quarter of the new NFL season. Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is in danger of missing time for the 1-3 Baltimore Ravens, who are already 1-3 and in desperation mode entering Week 5.
Given the circumstances of how bad the Bengals' division is, they must make changes in swift order to save their season. Part of that mission is trying to keep pace with a rival whose face of the franchise is also sidelined.
Lamar Jackson could miss 2-3 weeks with hamstring injury amid Bengals' struggles
Sources told the Baltimore Sun's Brian Wacker that Lamar Jackson could miss two to three weeks with his nagging hamstring issue.
In terms of the direct impact on Cincinnati, the Ravens don't pop up on the schedule until Thanksgiving Night in Week 13. That gives Jackson plenty of time to recover for the start of their annual two-game series, but if the injury lingers, who knows how far Baltimore might fall in the standings?
It's hard to have any optimism about the Bengals right now. They just lost their last two games by a combined score of 76-13. Still, between the flailing Browns, the ailing Ravens, and a Steelers team with Aaron Rodgers at QB on an early Week 5 bye — Rodgers turns 42 in December — all is not lost in Who Dey Nation. Far from it.
Not having Burrow in action puts a big dent in any reasonable expectations. If Zac Taylor can somehow turn things around and get Jake Browning back to the level he was playing at in 2023, though, this iteration of the Bengals could still contend in the AFC North.
Whatever changes slight or wholesale Taylor can make to get the offense back on track will go a long way. The offensive line is a wreck right now. Maybe that means firing Scott Peters and getting a new voice in the room. Perhaps Taylor could cede play-calling duties for once. Or it could just be a matter of replacing Browning with a new QB who can competently distribute the ball to weapons like Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and the myriad other dynamic Cincinnati pass-catchers.
A lot of Bengals fans are ready to quit on the season. Understandably so. Due to the state of the division and Jackson's uncertain immediate future, however, Cincinnati shouldn't sell itself short. The time is now to be aggressive and proactive as ever to make things right.
As tacky or tactless as it could come across to think about Jackson's personal well-being in a cold sort of Bengals-related football sense, that's just what it is right now. Every game means so much in the NFL, and for once, Taylor didn't get Cincinnati off to a bad start.
It'd be a shame to see a Bengals team that's still 2-2 just stay status quo, or fail to make any adjustments to a season that could still be salvaged.