CINCINNATI — Will Joe Burrow return to game action earlier than expected?
The Bengals have until Dec. 1 to activate Burrow from injured reserve, but the star quarterback took a big step forward on Wednesday by participating in 11-on-11 drills for the first time since undergoing toe surgery in September.
Burrow, 28, went through normal team stretch, warmed up with starting center Ted Karras and ran from one field to another before practice started. He'll take first-team reps in team drills with Joe Flacco sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Flacco is dealing with an AC joint sprain and the Bengals have given him Wednesday off in each of the past few weeks.
"He won't practice today, same schedule as we've been on last couple weeks," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Wednesday when asked about Flacco.
He also made it clear that Flacco would practice Thursday. Does that mean he'll start against the Patriots?
"We’ll keep working through it you know and see how we go through the week," Taylor said.
That theoretically leaves the door open for Burrow to suit up and make his return to the field.
Burrow made it clear last week that he wanted to play again this season. The Bengals are 3-7 and desperately need to win a few games in a row if they're going to pull off a miracle run to the postseason.
Is the door open for Burrow to return on Sunday against the Patriots?
"Burrow hasn’t practiced 11-on-11 yet," Taylor said. "Until we get through some practices, there no reason for me to speculate on that."
While he didn't want to speculate, Taylor certainly didn't say "no."
If Burrow fares well in 11-on-11 and the toe feels good, it certainly feels like the door is at least cracked for him to suit up and return to the field on Sunday against the Patriots.
"I think you can certainly get a lot of work in with Joe Burrow today because Flacco isn’t practicing because the plan has been get him into 11-on-11 so it works well," Taylor said. "We’ll get through today. We’ll get Joe Burrow out there today and see how it goes."
Burrow left the door open for himself to return for Sunday's game against New England last week when he spoke to the media. He said playing in Baltimore on Thanksgiving would be "very" meaningful. He also mentioned the possibility of returning much earlier than the Dec. 1 deadline for him to be activated.
"We have 21 days to figure that out," Burrow said. "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."
If Burrow is going to return to the field this season and he's healthy enough to play, wouldn't it be worth it to suit up on Sunday? If they lose to the 9-2 Patriots, then the Bengals will be 3-8 with back-to-back road games in Baltimore and Buffalo. They welcome the Ravens to town on Dec. 14. Three-straight games against the Ravens and Bills would be tough for any team.
Burrow may look at the next four games and says "we can go 3-1 or 4-0 if I'm on the field."
The Bengals are 7-0 in his last seven starts dating back to last season.
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