Final Joe Burrow update before training camp will delight Bengals fans
This is exactly what Cincinnati Bengals fans have been wanting to hear. Heading into training camp this week, Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed that star quarterback Joe Burrow is 100 percent healthy and fully cleared for contact.
Burrow had surgery after suffering a season-ending wrist surgery last season, and the Bengals brought him back slowly, with an emphasis on maintaining his long-term health. Burrow also dealt with a strained calf muscle at the start of the 2023 season.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin thinks that Burrow is ready to put the wrist injury in the rearview mirror.
“I’ve seen him throw. I think he’s over it,” Tobin said. “I think his wrist injury is a thing of the past.”
Burrow's preseason status
With Burrow being fully healthy, Taylor said expects the star quarterback to play in the preseason at some point. This is noteworthy because Burrow has taken just three preseason snaps in his entire career.
Zac says he expects Burrow and rest of starters to play some in Preseason games. (Note:) Burrow has three career preseason snaps.
— Geoff Hobson (@GeoffHobsonCin) July 22, 2024
The entire postseason was cancelled in 2020, Burrow's rookie season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He played three preseason snaps the following year while coming off of an ACL injury. He missed the entirety of the 2022 preseason after undergoing an appendectomy in late July. Last year, Burrow missed the entire preseason after suffering a calf sprain in training camp.
There's an inherent risk that comes with preseason play, especially for a player as valuable as Burrow, but there can also be some benefits for a player coming off of an injury. For Burrow, the preseason will likely just be used as an opportunity for him to get a few snaps in so that he feels comfortable with the wrist for the start of the regular season. If he does indeed end up playing in the preseason, his action will likely be extremely limited.
There are some high hopes for Burrow and the Bengals in 2024, and since Cincinnati's success hinges almost entirely on Burrow's health, it's a good sign that he's fully cleared for the onset of training camp.
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