Joe Burrow Suffers Season-Ending Injury, May Need Surgery

Joe Burrow will not play another game this year. On Friday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced their star quarterback suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist and will miss the remainder of the 2023 season. The injury, which will likely require surgery, occurred during the Bengals' 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Burrow said he felt a pop in the second quarter before being ruled out shortly before halftime. Jake Browning, the Bengals' backup quarterback, will be the starter for the time being. 

"Obviously whenever you go down, you have a lot of aspirations for what the season's going to look like, what the end of the season is going to look like," Burrow told reporters on Friday, per the Bengals' official website. "We were in a good spot. We are in a good spot. It's obviously disappointing because you obviously work so hard to get to this moment. Things are starting to take a turn. You're starting to play really well and then something like this happens. Nothing you can do about it. Just have to grind it out."

Burrow tore the ligament when Ravens defensive end Jadeveon Clowney hit him as he was throwing a nine-yard pass to Bengals running back Joe Mixon. "That's the best guess. You just see how he landed. Clowney kind of lands on top of him and the way he caught his wrist," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "For him to throw the way he did before that and then the next play really not be able to grab the ball. That seems to make the most sense."

This is the second time in Burrow's four-year career he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 11. In 2020, Burrow tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee during a game against Washington. This season, Burrow played in 10 games and completed 66.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,309 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions with a 91.0 passer rating. He was going off a 2022 season where he threw for 4,475 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, which led to him finishing fourth in MVP voting. In 2021, Burrow completed a league-leading 70.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 4,611 yards, 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He won the Comeback Player of the Year Award and led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance.