The Cincinnati Bengals were delivered a massive blow on Friday.
Less than 24 hours after Joe Burrow left Thursday’s 34-20 loss to the Ravens with a wrist injury, the star quarterback has now been ruled out for the season. The Atheltic’s Paul Dehner Jr. reported on Friday afternoon that Burrow will be out for the season due to the right wrist injury he suffered on Thursday night in Baltimore.
According to Dehner, the MRI that Burrow underwent revealed a torn ligament and is likely to require surgery.
Jake Browning, who took over for Burrow in Thursday night’s loss will take over at quarterback. The 27-year-old of Washington completed 8-of-14 passes for 68 yards with a touchdown in the 14-point loss. Now, as the 5-5 Bengals look to keep their season alive, they’ll turn to a quarterback who’s never started an NFL game before.
“The season is far from over,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said, via NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
But many across the NFL world don’t believe that to be the case. Reactions poured in on social media as one of the game’s top quarterbacks was dealt a brutal blow.
https://twitter.com/RyanGallenstein/status/1725601133362593856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1725601133362593856%7Ctwgr%5Eddf34fb8002d1a83a38ac1f8e60bed822f9d5520%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FRyanGallenstein2Fstatus2F1725601133362593856widget%3DTweet
Dang. Brutal year for QB injuries. Stinks. https://t.co/CxtScEvniG
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) November 17, 2023
This is why we can't have nice things. https://t.co/mzlGV4MSe3
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 17, 2023
It’s been a difficult season for Burrow, who suffered a right calf strain during training camp and was initially supposed to be sidelined for “several weeks.” Despite no clear timeline, Burrow didn’t miss a start — and while he was hampered by the injury earlier in the season, he was finally rounding back into form. In a Week 8 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Burrow completed 87.5% of his passes for 282 yards with three touchdowns and earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in the 31-17 win.
Now, the Bengals will have to make do without the highest-paid player in NFL history.