Everyone was hoping to see the old Joe Burrow in the quarterback’s return to the field for the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving night in Baltimore.But that didn’t exactly happen.Burrow looked shaky early on as he uncharacteristically missed some easy completions and struggled to find a rhythm, which made sense given his 10-week layoff following toe surgery.And Burrow sounded shaky after guiding the Bengals to a 32-14 victory against the Ravens.Surrounded by teammates waiting to devour the traditional postgame spread on television, Burrow – he of the Joe Brrr, Joe Cool persona – broke character and got emotional when talking about Thanksgiving and those who helped get him through yet another injury rehab.“I’m just most grateful to all the people in my life that helped me through these last 10 weeks,” he said, his voice quivering. “It certainly wasn’t easy for me, all the things I’ve been through in my career so far. “I’ve got people that just want the best for me and worked really hard to put me in a great position to go play well, get back on the field – physical therapists, trainers, doctors,” he added. “I’ve certainly had my fair share of those.”Sixty-nine days after having the ligament is his left big toe surgically repaired, Burrow shrugged off the team’s 3-8 record and tissue-thin playoff hopes and got back to doing what he loves most.And he did it without guardrails or a net. Head coach Zac Taylor didn’t bother with any sort of easy-in period when creating his gameplan.Burrow threw 32 passes in the first half, the second most of his career through the first two quarters, completing just 15 of them as the Bengals failed to score a touchdown on four trips into the red zone.“I mean, he hasn’t played real football in three months, so the expectation that it’s going to be perfect, that’s just not the reality,” Taylor said. Burrow wasn’t lighting up the stat sheet, but his mere presence had electricity crackling through the team, including the previously moribund defense. The Bengals forced three first-half turnovers and took a 12-7 lead.When halftime ended, the Burrow everyone was hoping to see ran out of the tunnel.He led back-to-back touchdown drives, the second of which ended with him beating the blitz and throwing an immaculately placed pass to Andrei Iosivas for a 29-yard score and 26-14 lead.“That touchdown to Iosivas, I felt pretty good about,” Burrow said. “I put it right where I wanted it.”If the throw itself wasn’t proof that Burrow was all the way back, his reaction left no doubt as Burrow roared with a fist pump, then a double-fisted chest strike, a double-fisted helmet slam and a primal scream. “I haven’t yelled like that in a while,” he said.Midseason formLate season emotion pic.twitter.com/vWPGXXpUug— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) November 28, 2025Burrow took a first-half sack on a blitz that had Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey nearly on top of him by the time he got his head around after faking a handoff.He scrambled three times, testing the effectiveness of the carbon fiber protective plate in his cleat. He threw on the run and thought on the fly.Burrow read the defense and delivered the ball where it needed to go – completing passes to nine different receivers – rather than simply forcing into safety blanket All Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase over and over again.He used his cadence to draw Baltimore offsides for a free first down as with time ticking away in the fourth quarter.And he became just the third quarterback in the history of the AFC North to beat a division opponent on the road in a short-week Thursday game.“It’s a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football,” Taylor said. “You could feel him get into a rhythm, and statistically, it’s not the best game we’ve ever had as an offense, but you could feel the rhythm he was in and the confidence he was in.”And that confidence spread throughout the entire team, especially the defense, which forced five turnovers, including four fumble recoveries after only recording one in the first11 games.Burrow may not have looked fully like himself for long stretches of the night, but his gravitational aura had the same pull as ever.It was obvious that his return meant as much to his teammates as it did to himself.“It was great having him back, great seeing him out there.” Running back Chase Brown said. “And what a way to come back for the win.” The win moved the Bengals to 4-8, the exact same record they had last year through 12 games when Burrow put the franchise on his back and ripped off five consecutive wins to come within a breath of the playoffs.That version of Burrow, the one who inserted himself in the MVP conversation last year, wasn’t on display Thursday night.But there isn’t a Bengals player or coach that doesn’t expect to see him soon.“I just keep saying, ‘you wouldn’t trade him for anybody,’” Taylor said. “When you’ve got the guy out there that you wouldn’t trade for anybody, there’s just this different confidence. “I don’t say that in any way to slight any other guy, because we’ve had a ton of confidence with the quarterbacks that have been playing for us,” Taylor added. “But Joe Burrow – he’s a spectacular player.”