Why?
Joseph Lee Burrow is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. Following a stint with Ohio State Buckeyes, Burrow played college football for the LSU Tigers, winning the Heisman Trophy and the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as a senior.
Joe Burrow is the catalyst toward the Cincinnati Bengals winning their first Super Bowl title, and the one player the franchise cannot afford to lose. The city of Cincinnati is in a holding pattern with its franchise quarterback after Burrow got carted off from Bengals practice Thursday with a calf injury.
How series the injury will be for Burrow and the Bengals is uncertain as the franchise will soon find out how long their superstar may be out. If Burrow misses a significant amount of time, the Bengals will have to scramble to keep their hopes of winning a Super Bowl championship alive.
The specific details of the calf injury Burrow sustained were still unclear when Taylor spoke with reporters. His answers were pretty clipped, but he clarified that Burrow "felt good" ahead of practice and could have just been wearing the sleeve due to general soreness from Day 1. "There's no message, this is football," Taylor said after he was asked what he would be telling the team. "Guys go down with an injury that maybe is a day thing, who knows? We don't message to the team after every single person goes down."
Burrow is entering his fourth year in the league and coming off an MVP-caliber season where he led the Bengals to the AFC North title. Over his career he has completed 68.2% of passes for 11,774 yards, 82 touchdowns and 31 interceptions. In 2021, his 70.4% completion rate and 8.9 yards per attempt led the league. He has a new contract looming, with Bengals president Mike Brown recently emphasizing that his extension would take precedence over deals with other players as the team approaches multiple negotiations.
When Taylor was asked Thursday if he was concerned Burrow's injury might deter players from practicing amid money talks, he replied with an even "nope." Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who becomes eligible for a new deal next year, told reporters he went over to speak to Burrow when he went down.
"We always give each other that nod," he said. "He gave me a nod he's all right. He's a strong dude." Burrow suffered an ACL injury during the 2020 season. Last offseason, he had to have a ruptured appendix removed. Those issues aside, he hasn't missed any regular season playing time due to injuries in the past two seasons.