CINCINNATI (AP) — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow stated he’s everyday and doesn’t know but if a lingering calf damage will hold him out of Monday’s evening’s sport in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams.
Burrow stated he “tweaked” the calf damage late in Sunday’s loss to the Ravens. He wore a compression sleeve on his total proper leg Thursday however stated the calf “just isn’t as sore.” He didn’t take part in apply.
“I’m getting ready like I’m going to exit and play a Monday evening soccer sport,” he stated. “Whether or not that occurs, I don’t know.
“Time heals,” he stated, “so we’ll see.”
Burrow strained his proper calf muscle on the second day of on-field exercises in coaching camp on July 27. That sidelined him for greater than a month, depriving him of priceless preseason reps along with his offense.
Burrow stated he aggravated the damage on the Bengals’ last drive of Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Ravens. He discovered Tee Higgins in the long run zone for a 4-yard landing, then limped to the sideline favoring his proper leg.
Requested if the Bengals’ 0-2 begin creates extra urgency for him to get again on the sector, he stated: “It’s in my head, for positive. I’m eager about it.”
However he stated he’s not panicking and no one else is, both.
“That’s the ups and downs of the 12 months,” Burrow stated. “The groups that come out on prime on the finish of it are going to be the groups that deal with that adversity the most effective. You possibly can’t let it snowball on you. That’s what we’ve carried out prior to now. And if you happen to return and look 12 months to 12 months, the groups which can be nonetheless in on the finish, everyone has adversity sooner or later within the 12 months.”
If Burrow can’t go Monday, backup Jake Browning, who was on the apply squad final season, would get the nod.
“Whenever you don’t have your beginning quarterback, that’s a problem,” coach Zac Taylor stated. “However once more, you’ve invested effort and time into Jake, and Jake’s matched that. The fellows on our 53-man roster are right here for a purpose. We consider in them. We all know we’re going to name upon everyone sooner or later, and the quarterback place is not any totally different.”
Browning just isn’t used to the media consideration he obtained within the locker room Thursday.
“It’s my job to be ready if Joe goes down, and so actually for me, the week is not any totally different,” he stated. “Even after I was on the (apply) squad, I knew there was zero probability of me enjoying, however I used to be absolutely ready and I might undergo the entire sport plan like I used to be going to be the backup, like I had an opportunity of enjoying. It’s my job to be prepared if Joe goes down, and I’m in my third week of doing that.”
If Burrow’s teammates are frightened, they’re not displaying it.
“Coach goes to place us in the most effective place to win, and it’s our job to exit and execute,” Higgins stated. “If Joe doesn’t play, on the finish of the day, we nonetheless need to go do what we do.”
Thanks largely to rain in Cleveland in the course of the opener, Burrow by no means might discover a rhythm and handed for simply 82 yards, the bottom whole in his professional profession. The Browns thumped the Bengals 24-3.
He got here out flat once more final Sunday in opposition to the Ravens, passing for 35 yards within the first half. He started to appear to be his previous self within the second half, shifting the ball and throwing a pair of brief landing passes to Higgins — but in addition throwing an interception within the purple zone when a rating would have given the Bengals the lead.
The very best-paid participant within the NFL has some expertise with well being points. Through the 2021 season, he was nonetheless rehabbing from main knee surgical procedure late within the earlier season however ended up main Cincinnati to the Tremendous Bowl and was honored because the AP Comeback Participant of the Yr.
Simply earlier than the beginning of coaching camp in 2022, Burrow had an emergency appendectomy. He has acknowledged he wasn’t again to full power for the primary a part of the season.
The Bengals began 0-2 in 2022, and a loss in Cleveland on Halloween evened their report at 4-4. They received the following eight video games to complete the common season and seize the AFC North title for the second straight season. They beat Baltimore and Buffalo within the playoffs earlier than falling to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs within the AFC championship sport.
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