Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow was back at practice this week for the first time since suffering a calf strain more than a month ago. Burrow wasted no time in his return to the field, already connecting with his top receiver Ja’Marr Chase at practice:
We've missed this.@JoeyB x @Real10jayy__ pic.twitter.com/a11OhG75Dp
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 31, 2023
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan stated that the team has a “good plan” in place to get their franchise signal-caller ready for the Week 1 divisional battle against the Cleveland Browns, per Ben Baby, who covers the Bengals for ESPN.
Before getting injured, it was reported that Joe Burrow was nearing a long-term contract extension with the Bengals to potentially make him the highest-paid quarterback/player in the NFL. With the injury seemingly behind Burrow at this point, it will be interesting to see when/if those negotiations pick back up.
Unlike other high-profile players, Burrow has shown no signs of holding out or stepping away from the team until his contract situation is resolved, which can be viewed as a positive for the team but a huge risk for him. He already got hurt once this offseason which has prolonged the contract discussions, another injury would be chaos.
This sense of tenacity and dedication to winning is part of what has made Burrow such a successful NFL quarterback. The Bengals have reached the AFC Championship Game in each of the past two seasons with Burrow leading the way. However, they’ve come up short of the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl both times.
With Burrow trending towards playing in Week 1 and avoiding serious injury, the Bengals pursuit of getting over the hump and winning the Super Bowl this time around remains attainable.
