CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow is likely playing Sunday against the Patriots if NFL history and Wednesday's practice status are any indication. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky agrees with the thinking.
He "fully expects" Joe Burrow will start Sunday after practicing in full on Wednesday.
"It's pretty much the same situation as last year," Orlovsky said on NFL Live. "Is it smart? I'm always of the vein, if the medical staff says he's good to go, can't get worse, and the player says, I feel good there. He's a competitor. He's gonna go play. They're in desperate times."
Zac Taylor gave the timeline for his return earlier this week. He's already hit the 11-on-11 marker, and there's just zero reason a healthy superstar competitor of this caliber shouldn't be out there as long as Cincinnati has a chance to make the playoffs.
ESPN's Football Power Index gives them a 2.3% chance to make the playoffs, likely having to win the AFC North to get there. That number isn't zero.
Bengals players think he looks ready to roll.
"Joe looked good," Joe Flacco said today. "It's cool to see him out there, and obviously, when you know you're both now taking reps and things like that, some conversations kind of happen, and just like how do you see this versus that. But, but yeah Joe looks good."
"He looks sharp," Mike Gesicki said. "He looks like he's been doing this for a while. He didn't lose the ability to throw the football, I'll tell you that much."
"He looks good throwing the ball still really well," Andrei Iosivas said. "He looks really good throwing the ball."
Healthy players play football, and if Burrow stays healthy over the next two days, there's no reason to think his return won't happen this week.
Watch Orlovsky's comments below:
"[Joe Burrow] is gonna start. I mean there's no way he's practicing fully today if he's not gonna start on Sunday."@danorlovsky7 is confident Joe Burrow will be under center for the Bengals during Week 12 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4QeNVKJ98O
— ESPN (@espn) November 19, 2025
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