The Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes remain in jeopardy as their franchise quarterback continues his long road back from a devastating injury. Joe Burrow has now missed seven weeks with a severe turf toe injury that required surgical intervention. With the Bengals’ playoff chances dwindling, will fantasy football managers see Burrow back on the field this season?
Joe Burrow Injury Update
Burrow went down during Cincinnati’s Week 2 win over Jacksonville after being tackled awkwardly while trying to escape pressure. Doctors diagnosed him with a Grade 3 turf toe injury, and medical professionals projected a minimum three-month recovery period.
Dr. Norman Waldrop performed the surgical procedure at Birmingham’s Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center. The severity of what Burrow is dealing with cannot be overstated. A Grade 3 turf toe diagnosis means complete tears of all soft tissues in the big toe, encompassing both ligaments and the joint capsule.
Now seven weeks removed from surgery, there was encouraging progress when Burrow showed up on the sideline recently without his walking boot. This marks a meaningful step forward and indicates he’s tracking with the projected 12-week recovery window.
The Cleveland Clinic explains that turf toe happens when the toe hyperextends while the foot is planted firmly on the ground. Medical professionals have stressed how difficult recovery from this injury can be, with Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer calling turf toe ‘one of the hardest, most painful injuries to come back from’ in pro football.
Counting three months from Burrow’s September surgery places his earliest potential return sometime in mid-December. Yet multiple medical professionals have indicated even that projection might be too aggressive considering the injury’s nature and what’s required of an NFL quarterback. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported that Burrow might return for the season’s final two or three games.
What complicates Burrow’s return even more is Cincinnati’s fading playoff picture. The Bengals stand at 3-6 following their Week 9 loss to the Chicago Bears, with their playoff probability now dipping into the single digits percentage wise.
Burrow Fantasy Outlook
The unpleasant truth for fantasy managers is that Burrow’s 2025 campaign is essentially finished. Even in the best-case scenario with a Week 16 comeback, the circumstances surrounding his return make him an impractical fantasy choice during championship week.
This parallels Aaron Rodgers’ attempted comeback from his torn Achilles in 2023. Rodgers got back to practice, but once the Jets had no mathematical path to the playoffs, talk of his return disappeared entirely. The identical reasoning applies here with Burrow and Cincinnati.
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The Bengals won’t expose their franchise quarterback to unnecessary danger if they’re out of playoff contention. Looking at the current recovery schedule, the most optimistic projection shows Burrow available starting Week 16. At best, that gives fantasy managers two potential starts beginning with the fantasy semifinals.
If you’ve advanced that deep into your fantasy playoffs, chances are your quarterback situation isn’t so desperate that you need Burrow after a three-month absence with no assurance he’ll finish the contest.
The practical reality is that even if Burrow somehow suits up in December, he’d require substantial practice work to reach game-ready condition following major surgery.
Fantasy managers in competitive leagues should seriously think about dropping Burrow unless they’re sitting on a free IR slot with no roster penalty. Your waiver wire undoubtedly has more dependable weekly streaming candidates than holding on for months while waiting on a player who might not take another snap this year.
The overwhelming likelihood is that fantasy managers won’t see Burrow until 2026.