NFL investigating Bengals for not listing Joe Burrow on injury report ahead of TNF

The NFL is investigating whether the Bengals hid the fact Joe Burrow suffered a wrist injury before he even took the field Thursday against the Ravens.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news about an investigation, based on information he received from the league. Schefter wrote:

The NFL is investigating why the Bengals did not list QB Joe Burrow on their injury report when the team posted a picture of him wearing a device on his wrist Wednesday night and he appeared to be hampered by the injury early in the Thursday night game that he later left, the league confirmed today. 

The initial picture of Burrow wearing a device that looked like a soft cast on his thumb was posted by the Bengals, only to be deleted later. The NFL routinely looks into matters of compliance with the Injury Report policy, and will do so in this instance as well. Teams can be fined or even potentially lose a draft pick.

The NFL is investigating why the Bengals did not list QB Joe Burrow on their injury report when the team posted a picture of him wearing a device on his wrist Wednesday night and he appeared to be hampered by the injury early in the Thursday night game that he later left, the… pic.twitter.com/xba8URiWri

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 17, 2023

Bengals deleted video showing possible brace on Burrow’s wrist

Joe Burrow had to leave the game late in the second quarter after he threw a touchdown pass to Joe Mixon. He ducked into the medical tent, then tried to throw on the sideline. But he couldn’t grip the ball, nor lift his right arm very high. Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed that Burrow suffered a sprained right wrist and that he would have an MRI, Friday.

But there were a ton of media and fans who believed Burrow aggravated an existing wrist injury. And it was all because of a video the Bengals’ social media team shared on X (formerly Twitter). The video was an innocuous one. It showed the Bengals’ arrival in Baltimore Wednesday night. Burrow was standing towards the back in the clip. But enterprising fans took screen shots after they noticed that Burrow was wearing some sort of protective wrap or brace around his wrist. Then the Bengals deleted the video.

Taylor said he was unaware that Burrow might have had an injury issue.

“That was the first I saw anything about it,” Taylor said. He added that he felt “absolutely” good about Burrow as the Bengals headed into a key AFC North matchup.

“Watch how he played in the first half,” Taylor told reporters. “He did everything we needed him to do.”

Before he left the game, Burrow completed 11 of his 17 passes for 101 yards and the touchdown toss to Mixon. , Burrow absorbed a big hit from Ravens defensive lineman Jadeveon Clowney on the snap before the TD. The Bengals don’t play again until Nov. 26 against the Steelers.

The NFL requires every team to list players with injuries and whether they were full or limited participants in practice each day. Here’s the Bengals practice report for the Ravens. If the team fails to do so, the league can fine them or take away draft picks.

Back in September, 2019, the NFL fined the the Steelers $75,000 and slapped coach Mike Tomlin for $25,000 for violating the injury report policy. The Steelers weren’t forthcoming about an injury to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.