Joe Burrow will officially make his return to the field this Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow has been out of action due to a turf toe injury since week two of the season. The Bengals are 3-8 on the season and are 1-7 without Burrow. What should we expect from Burrow in his return?
How Good Can Joe Burrow Be in His First Game Back?
Burrow is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. Over the last four seasons, he has finished within the top 10 in PFSN’s QB Impact scores three times, with the only season he didn’t being his 2023 season, which was marred by injury. He had scores of 83.4 in 2024, 83.5 in 2022, and 85.6 in 2021.
However, as everyone knows, Burrow and the Bengals are known for being slow starters. In the first games of the season, Burrow is completing 62.8% of his passes for an average of 192 yards, 0.8 touchdowns, and 0.8 interceptions per game. That is a far cry from 68.5% completion for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and 0.65 interceptions per game.
Now I know this technically isn’t the first game of the season, but looking at those games is the closest thing we can see from him that resembles coming back from an injury and a significant break in playing football. We will see if his slow starts are limited to the beginning of the season or also occur after any long breaks.
To add to the slow start issues, Burrow will be without one of his top targets in Tee Higgins. Higgins will be missing the game with a concussion after a scary fall late in the game against the Patriots. Higgins went up for a catch and came down, hitting the back of his head off the ground.
Burrow will also be missing his running backs two and three in Samaje Perine and Tahj Brooks. While this may not seem like a big deal, Perine has been a reliable third-down back for them and has also contributed to protection. Having to bring up a practice squad player to help protect Burrow, potentially, isn’t ideal.
The Bengals are 3-8, and there will be a lot of talk about whether Burrow should have come back at all. However, he has, and several factors are working against him this week. How good can he be against the Ravens? We will all just have to tune in on Thursday to find out.
