"Their season's DONE": NFL insider pours cold water on Bengals' future after Joe Burrow's toe injury update

Joe Burrow will be on the minds of Cincinnati Bengals fans on Monday, despite their second win of the season. The superstar quarterback left the contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a toe injury, and initial fears are that he could miss up to three months after surgery.

The Bengals managed to come back against the Jaguars and win the game with Jake Browning, the backup quarterback, leading the offense. But the prospect of Browning leading the team to the playoffs is extremely unlikely over the course of a full season. Especially with tougher games coming in the AFC North.

CBS Sports insider Pete Prisco also doesn't trust Browning. Despite acknowledging a good game from Burrow's backup on Sunday, Prisco notices that, if the fears are confirmed and surgery is needed, the Bengals' season will be over despite their undefeated start:

"Their season's DONE. If you lose a franchise-carrying guy like Joe Burrow, your season's over."

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According to insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, the belief coming from the Cincinnati Bengals is that the quarterback suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury. He'll get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, but the worst-case scenario would see him returning in December.

Jake Browning also filled in for Joe Burrow during the 2023 season

This is not the first time that the Bengals' superstar quarterback has suffered a serious injury. In 2023, he was lost for the remainder of the season due to a wrist injury that required surgery, and he did not return to the field that year.

Browning took over as the starter for the remainder of the season, and he performed admirably. In seven games as the starter, he passed for 1,936 yards with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

The Bengals won four of the seven games with Browning as their starter. However, their 9-8 overall record translated into a 4th place in the AFC North. Cincinnati missed the playoffs that season.

In 2020, his rookie year, Burrow was also lost prematurely for the season when he suffered a torn ACL in a game against the Washington Commanders. This could be the third time in six seasons that he misses multiple months.

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

Know More

Bengals Nation! Check out the latest Cincinnati Bengals Schedule and dive into the Bengals Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Henrique Bulio