CINCINNATI — Could Joe Burrow return to the field on Sunday against the Patriots? It can't be ruled out. At least not until Zac Taylor, Burrow and the team say he won't play this week.
The Bengals are 1-7 in eight games without Burrow and 3-7 on the season. Would Burrow seriously consider putting on his Superman cape with hopes of saving the Bengals season this week?
Stranger things have happened.
"We have 21 days to figure that out," Burrow said last week after being cleared. "Could be early, could be late in that window. We are still pretty early post-surgery for this injury so we have couple weeks of practice to figure that out and see how it goes."
The "could be early" part of that quote has stuck with me. The Bengals are 3-7. Their playoff hopes were essentially dashed in Week 10 against the Steelers. A loss to the Patriots would be another blow to their slim chances.
If last season told us anything, it's that Burrow is resilient. He may think his return can be the spark this team needs. The Bengals are 7-0 in his last seven starts dating back to last season.
One thing is clear: the Bengals are certainly planning on Burrow playing again in 2025.
"I think right now, he's of the mindset that he wants to play football for us," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday. "We'll just continue to get through his rehab progression and see where that ends up before we make any decision on how we want to proceed."
The Bengals activated Burrow on Nov. 10. He can be activated to play at anytime between now and Dec. 1.
Burrow acknowledged that returning for the Bengals' Thanksgiving matchup against the Ravens would be "very" meaningful. Could he return four days sooner with hopes of saving the Bengals' season?
The star quarterback underwent toe surgery after suffering a grade 3 strain in his left toe during the Bengals' Week 2 win over the Jaguars.
"We feel good about how it's been healing," Burrow said. "It's strong, I'm strong. And so we felt good about getting back out to practice and starting to test it out a little bit, hopefully return to play. So we'll see where it goes."
The plan is for him to wear a steel plate in his left cleat when he does return to the field.
Yes. it's an ongoing process. We're figuring out what works for me," Burrow said. "I have to have a lot of hardware in there to protect it. So there's been a lot that has gone into that."
The Bengals and Burrow might not have been planning on him returning in Week 12, but don't rule it out. There's a chance Burrow goes through 11-on-11 drills on Wednesday and pushes to play on Sunday against the 9-2 Patriots.
The Bengals' backs are against the wall, Ja'Marr Chase is suspended for the game and Cincinnati desperately needs a win. Don't be shocked if Burrow pushes to play this week.
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