Getty Image / Dylan Buell
It has been a horrific start to the season for Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. The team is sitting at 0-2, and seemingly nothing is going right.
As for Burrow, both training camp and the regular season have already been plagued by injuries. This comes after a five-year, $275 million contract extension that was signed just before the start of the season.
The fourth-year signal caller and former number one overall pick was an instant star in Cincinnati, and is universally considered a top five quarterback in the game. With the Bengals having reached the Super Bowl two seasons ago and falling just short last year, expectations were high coming into this year.
But, things haven’t gone to plan. Joe Burrow picked up a calf injury back in late July, causing him to miss much of training camp. He was ready for the start of the season, but things have gone poorly.
Joe Burrow didn’t even make it through the team’s first game against the Cleveland Browns, being benched after a dismal 14/31 for 81 yards performance. And, the team lost again on Sunday, 27-24 to the Bengals. The offense was a little better with Burrow going 27/41 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. But, it still wasn’t clicking.
To make matters worse, Burrow re-aggravated his calf injury on Sunday, putting things in doubt for Monday night’s game against the Rams that is probably a must-win.
Burrow spoke about his injury status. Here’s more from ProFootballTalk
“My job is to go out and play and that’s what I’m prepared to do,” Burrow said. “I’m preparing like I’m going to go out and play a Monday Night Football game. Whether that happens, I don’t know, but I’m going to be prepared to.”
If he can’t go, head coach Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals will have to turn to former Washington Husky Jake Browning as their starting quarterback. Browning was 0-1 in week one. That’s the only pass he’s ever thrown in week one.
Needless to say, if Jake Browning is playing instead of Joe Burrow, that’s going to significantly hamper the passing game of Cincinnati. If you’re a fantasy owner of players like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, you could be in for a weekend of uncertainty in terms of Burrow’s status.
With the AFC North once again looking to be pretty competitive top-to-bottom, an 0-3 start would put the Bengals significantly behind the 8-ball.