The million dollar question – or should we say $275 million question – is whether Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will play on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams. The NFL’s highest-paid player suffered a calf injury in training camp in the Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
According to NFL Media, Burrow will start Monday as a game-time decision as Cincinnati prepares for Week 3. This came after the team officially listed Burrow as questionable for that match on Saturday. However, head coach Zac Taylor also made it clear that it was “doubtful” Burrow would be active if he wasn’t in the starting lineup. Should Burrow ultimately miss out, backup Jake Browning would get the starting job.
The initial injury caused Burrow to miss a month of training camp, and after the Bengals’ home loss on Sunday, he appeared to be in pain and limping. Cincinnati is 0-2 to start the season and Burrow has been far from the Super Bowl player we’ve seen in years past.
And it is the Bengals’ standing that is causing a split in the organization. The Athletic reports that there are some in the building who want Burrow to be 100% recovered from his calf injury before returning to action, and others who fear missing the playoffs and want their superstar -Signal caller becomes active on Monday evening.
As for Burrow himself, he has not commented in any way, leaving the door open, as he said earlier this week (per The athlete) Is he feeling better. Not so sore anymore. Time heals. So we’ll see.”
The 26-year-old did not train on Thursday and had limited participation on both Friday and Saturday.
If you ask his teammates if he will take the field, you won’t get a sure answer from them either. When wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase spoke to the media after practice on Friday, he mentioned that Burrow “didn’t really throw a lot of balls today.”
Chase had a tough stance on the situation and doesn’t believe his quarterback should play unless he’s fully healthy.
“I told him at the time, don’t play until you’re 100 percent ready to play, so I don’t know what he’s doing,” he said, adding that he doubted Burrow was 100 percent ready.
Asked if he thinks Burrow will play, Chase said: “If I had to guess, I’d say no. I say no because I told him no. My answer has never changed.”
If Burrow doesn’t play, Chase said, the winless Bengals would face “100 percent adversity.” These are things we’ve never dealt with and it’s not preseason so it actually counts, so it’s definitely an adversity.”
Wide receiver Tyler Boyd, on the other hand, predicts Burrow will play.
“I know he takes it day by day. He looked good to me, he always looks good to me whether he’s in pain or not,” Boyd said. “But I don’t want him to go out there if he’s not 100 percent. But at the end of the day we have to decide who we can play with. If he isn’t, then I’m sure Jake can lead us to the Promised Land.”
Through two games, Burrow has 304 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a 56.9 completion percentage.