Bengals QB Joe Burrow Says He's Dealt With Memory Loss Due to Concussions

The head injury to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has everyone talking about the NFL's concussion protocol. But for Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow, he knows that while concussions are scary, he understands it comes with playing football. Burrow talked about injuries on The Colin Cowherd Podcast and said that he has suffered short-term memory loss where there are games that he does not remember entirely. 

"Yeah. For sure," Burrow said when asked if he's ever had a concussion. "I think everybody has that plays this game. "I've never had any lasting effects from a concussion. I've been hit and forgot the rest of the game before. That's happened a couple of times. But I've never had one where I have headaches for like a week and I have symptoms of concussion after the game. Like I said, I've had somewhere I don't remember the second half or I don't remember the entire game or I know that I got a little dizzy at one point. But nothing long-lasting." 

Burrow and the Bengals were playing against the Dolphins on Thursday night when Tagovailoa suffered the head injury, which came four days after he suffered an apparent head injury against the Buffalo Bills. Tagovailoa finished the game against the Bills as the Dolphins said that he had a back injury. Now, Tagovailoa's status for the rest of the season is up in the air since the Dolphins have not revealed a timeline for his return. Miami has been criticized for letting Tagovailoa play despite what is known about concussions.

"You can make all the rules you want to make the game as safe as you possibly can, but there's an inherent risk and danger with the game of football," Burrow said. "You're going to have head injuries. You're going to tear your ACL. You're going to break your arm. That's the game that we play. That's the life that we live. And we get paid handsomely for it. I think going into every game, we know what we're getting ourselves into." 

Burrow was selected by the Bengals No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Last year, Burrow led the Bengals to the Super Bowl but lost to the Los Angeles Rams.