Bengals coach Zac Taylor gives 'encouraging' update on Joe Burrow's calf injury

Who knew that the calf muscle Joe Burrow strained in late July would be having such an impact headed into late September?

The Bengals, with their star quarterback struggling, are 0-2 as they head into a Monday Night Football home date against the Rams. Save for the venue, it’s a rematch of the Super Bowl from February, 2022.

But as far as the calf goes, Bengals coach Zac Taylor told reporters that Burrow is feeling better.

“It’s been an encouraging early part of the week,” Taylor said of Joe Burrow. “I’ve learned enough in my five years here to not assume anything. We’ll just take it day to day with him. He’s been a little sore early in the week, but we’ll see how it goes. Fortunately we get an extra day here.”

Cincinnati is 0-2, just like last season. The Bengals broke out of that 2022 funk in a big way, making it to the AFC title game and missing by a field goal from making a repeat visit to the Super Bowl.

We’ve all heard plenty of speculation this week in regards to whether Joe Burrow should spend four weeks on IR to make sure his calf heals. These sorts of injuries can linger through a season. Then again, Burrow took off all of training camp before the medical staff cleared him for full workouts the week the season started.

“The No. 1 thing is Joe’s health,” Taylor said. “And making sure he’s healthy in the short term and the long term.”

Injury impacts Joe Burrow’s ability to throw deep

Taylor said his quarterback reaggravated the injury on one of the last few plays of the 27-24 loss to the Ravens. But at least Burrow showed improvement from the season opener to game two. The quarterback completed 27 of his 41 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. The week before, Burrow threw for only 86 yards in a loss to Cleveland. Burrow’s limp was noticeable Sunday as he walked off the field moments after throwing a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins.

“It’s not what we were planning on, not what you want to do at all, but we’ll bounce back,” Joe Burrow told reporters in post game. “That’s what we do. That’s all there is to it.”

Straining your calf muscle is painful. But here’s how it impacts a quarterback. You need your lower body strength to throw the deep pass. That’s a Burrow specialty. But not this season. He’s 0 for 12 on passes thrown for 15 air yards or more. In 2022, Burrow led the NFL with 27 touchdowns of at least 15 yards.

No doubt, there’s probably some additional pressure Joe Burrow is placing on himself. As the season started, the Bengals made Burrow the highest-paid player in NFL history. After two games, his quarterback passer rating of 47.2 ranks 22nd in the NFL.