Joe Burrow tore his ACL on Sunday in the Cincinnati Bengals game against the Washington Football Team and is out for the rest of the year. And while fans are expecting the star quarterback to return at the start of the 2021 season, it’s possible he could be out a little longer. According to ESPN, Burrow tore his ACL, MCL and suffered other structural issues. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he expects Burrow to be back next year but didn’t have an exact timetable.
“He’s been in great spirits,” Taylor said Monday. “On the bus, on the plane, you know, in the facility today, he’s responded as well as he could possibly do it and we’ve all noticed that.” Burrow, who has having a strong rookie campaign, was carted off the field in the third quarter of the team’s 20-9 loss to Washington. The injury happened when two defenders sandwiched him after throwing a pass on third down.
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“Just attack every day,” Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green said on the Bengals official website when talking about what Burrow needs to do to return as quickly as possible. Sometimes, you’re not going to feel like rehabbing,” Green said. “But you always have to look at the bigger picture, and that’s just getting back and getting ready to play football. That was my mindset over these two years. Keep attacking the day. Keep getting better. Keep staying positive, and everything will work itself out. Joe, he’s going to be fine. He’s a fighter. He’s a competitor. He’s going to come back even better.”
Burrow was making a case to be named Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 10 games, the 2019 Heisman Trophy Winner completed 65.3% of his passes and threw for 2,6888 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions with an 89.8 passer rating. However, the Bengals had trouble protecting Burrow all year as he was sacked 32 times.
“We gave up a lot of pressure in the beginning of the season. In these last couple weeks our guys have done a great job of keeping people off Joe. He’s had a great pocket,” Taylor said. “The hit, as I saw it, wasn’t with the ball in his hand. People keep talking about the offensive line without seemingly watching the film for the last four weeks. Again, those guys have done a good job, it’s been a revolving door of players they have been doing a great job.”
