Bengals QB Joe Burrow Explains Wrist Rolling, Flexing, Says He’s Not Limited in Any Way

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow spent a good portion of his media session saying his wrist had nothing to do with the lack of passes further down the field in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the New England Patriots.

Burrow spent a lot of time rotating and flexing his wrist and balling his fist during Sunday’s game.

Burrow Says Wrist Calisthenics Are Just To Stay Loose

And while it’s something he’s been doing throughout the offseason and training camp, it was the first time many people noticed it, as the CBS cameras caught the routine several times.

“Yeah, I’m doing that all the time,” he said. “When you’re coming back from an injury, you’re always trying to keep the joint loose. That’s part of ligament injuries. If you don’t move it, you’re going to lose it.”

“So I’m always moving it around, keeping it loose, keeping my mobility the way it’s supposed to be, so it’s going to continue to happen,” he continued. “I do it at home, I do it here, I do it all the time.”

Burrow seemed amused by the added speculation swirling due to clips showing him picking up a water bottle on the bench.

“I picked it up weird?” he said with a smirk. “I don’t know. I drink water. Can’t say I have seen that or know what anyone is talking about.”

I watched CIN/Joe Burrow:

1. Got an early test of placing his right hand down to recover a fumble. Did fine with it

2. Good velocity/accuracy on throws <8 yards

3. Good velocity/accuracy on throws <15-18 yards

4. The TD pass (bobbled) to Gesicki in the corner for 15 yards was… pic.twitter.com/WefpHX6MfT

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) September 9, 2024

But he’s well aware of his inability to try to stretch the New England defense with any deep shots down the field or even intermediate ones.

Burrow’s average intended air yards on his 29 pass attempts against the Patriots was just 5.4, which ranked 27th among quarterbacks with at least 15 attempts in Week 1, leading to speculation the wrist is still bothering him.

Burrow averaged 6.5 yards in 2023, which ranked 41st among qualifying quarterbacks, and that was due in large part to his inability to let it rip through the first four weeks of the season due to his calf injury.

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Burrow averaged 7.2 air yards per attempt in 2022, and 8.3 in 2021.

Sunday, only six of Burrow’s 29 passes went further than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

“There were a couple that we could have taken advantage of that we didn’t, but (the Patriots) did a good job,” Burrow said. “They got out early, and then they kept everything in front of them, knew where their help was, and funneled everything that way so we couldn’t do a better job of taking advantage of those opportunities.”

Asked if anything aside from New England’s scheme kept him from pushing the ball down the field, Burrow replied, “I wouldn’t say that.”

Is the wrist preventing him from making any throws?

“Absolutely not.”

Burrow admitted that there is an adjustment period physically and mentally after not playing since November.

And he knows the importance of being able to test the limits of the defense with some longer shots down the field, when the situation calls for it.

“If we’re getting one-on-one, I need to take advantage of those opportunities,” he said. “If we’re not, I’m not going to force things and throw interceptions. I’m going to take what the defense gives me, and that’s, in my opinion, part of why I’ve been so good.”

“We can obviously do a much better job of taking advantage of those one-on-one opportunities, and there were a couple on Sunday that we didn’t,” he added. “So we need to do a much better job of recognizing that, myself included, but I’m going to continue to play the game the way I feel I need to play to win the game.”