The Cincinnati Bengals opened the practice window for quarterback Joe Burrow this week and now everyone is watching the clock to see when he might get back on the field. He definitely won’t play against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, but could he possibly be out there when the New England Patriots travel to the 513 the following week?
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says that Patriots fans can relax…probably.
“He is a complete psycho competitor, so I wouldn’t rule him out when it comes to anything,” Breer said on Arbella Early Edition.
While he didn’t say it, it’s safe to say that Breer ruled out the possibility of Burrow playing defense at some point this year.
“My understanding is, what they’re gonna do with him this week is they’re gonna have him basically in 7-on-7 work,” Breer continued. “While they manage Joe Flacco‘s shoulder injury, he’s gonna be seeing some action there, and they’ll ramp him up. The idea, I think, is to see where you’re at. Their next three games, it’s wonky because they play on Thanksgiving night. So they have the Steelers this week, the Patriots next week, and then they have a short week to play the Ravens.”
Joe Burrow won’t help this team right now
Flacco is dealing with a shoulder injury and that’s much more of an issue than worrying about whether Burrow will be back. The truth is, the Bengals’ offense has been fine – even great at times – with Flacco running the show.
In the last three games, the Bengals have scored 42, 38 and 33 points. They lost two of those and won the one game where they scored “only” 33. That’s not a quarterback problem, that’s a who-in-the-hell-do-you-have-playing-defense problem.
Breer went on to speculate about the Bengals’ plan for Burrow.
“So the idea would be, can we win two of those three games? And now we’re 5-6 and we’re playing relevant football, and here comes Joe Burrow to help save us,” Breer continued. I wouldn’t rule it out — psycho — but probably not.”
So, pretty much there is no way he plays, but on the off chance he does, remember I kind of hedged my bet when I said this. Sort of.
Flacco has impressed Joe Burrow
For what it’s worth, Burrow has been very impressed with his replacement.
“He’s playing great,” Burrow said. “He’s putting the ball where it needs to go. He’s been accurate with it, getting the ball out. The O-line has been playing great. We’ve been running the ball really well over these last couple of weeks. That’s been exciting to see. And, obviously, our guys on the outside are making plays like they always do.
“He’s fun to be around. He’s quiet sometimes. I think we have that in common. He’ll throw some off-the wall stuff out there every once in a while that I like, that makes me laugh. He’s fun to be around. I’m happy that I’ve been able to have this experience and watch him do his thing and see how he operates.”
Burrow is correct in that Flacco is playing well. But, they keep losing anyway, which highlights the big problem with the Bengals. They simply can’t stop anyone on defense. How many more points will Burrow put up than the 42 they dropped on the Chicago Bears last week only to lose?
It’s great that the Bengals want their stud back, but it’s not going to fix much.
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