Joe Burrow says he's 'getting there' with calf injury after MNF win over Rams

Joe Burrow could have spent the game Monday on the bench rather than take the start against the Rams. But the Bengals quarterback felt his team needed him.

And in the moments after Cincinnati clinched a 19-16 home victory at Paycor Stadium, Burrow said his strained calf passed the test.

“We’re getting there.” Joe Burrow said. “Every week will be better as long as there’s no more setbacks.” Today, we got through it.”

And yes, Burrow knows that he can reaggravate his calf injury, the one he suffered two months ago right when Cincinnati kicked off training camp. Back then, no one thought it would take the Bengals until Sept. 26. Heck, Cincinnati didn’t even take their first lead of the season until Monday night

“There is risk to go out there and potentially re-injure it,” Joe Burrow told reporters, “But there’s also a risk to go out there and be 0-3. So I wanted to be out there for my guys, and I was confident I was going to be able to do what I needed to do to get the win.”

Burrow still had some mobility issues, He knew to throw the ball quickly. Overall, Burrow completed 26 of 49 passes for 259 yards. There were no touchdown passes and the Rams picked him off one time. Still, Burrow did more than enough to give his team a chance to win.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Burrow’s calf was in good shape for the two days before the Bengals game.

“We felt like we knew where this was headed,” Taylor said. “So we were in a good spot.”

Ja’Marr Chase said he didn’t want Joe Burrow to play. Then he caught 12 of his passes.

Of course, Joe Burrow had help. Ja’Marr Chase caught 12 passes for 141 yards. And Joe Mixon ran 10 times for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Chase said he didn’t want his quarterback to play and risk injury. He was thinking long-term.

“It just shows that Joe is hard-headed,” Chase told reporters. “But he’s a football player. It takes a lot to be a quarterback and also be injured.”

“We needed to get this win,” Chase said. “I was just being there for Joe. All I could do is try to make Joe look good.”

As for Joe Burrow, he got through it.

“I feel good,” Burrow said. “We didn’t have any setbacks today, but still day to day, and I’ve learned through this process that you can have one at any time. So, it was good to get through this one, and that means it’ll be stronger for next week, so hopefully, I can have a full week of practice to prepare for next week.”