Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow will miss rest of 2023 season with ligament tear.

The news was announced by head coach Zac Taylor on Friday afternoon. He stated that Burrow will probably require surgery and that the team’s success will not be affected by not having their Pro Bowl quarterback, who helped them win the Super Bowl the previous year.

During the Bengals’ 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Burrow sustained an injury. In his first meaningful NFL action against the Ravens, backup quarterback Jake Browning completed 8 of 14 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Cincinnati will likely go to him.

Burrow remarked on Friday afternoon, “It’s tough.” “You put in a lot of effort for times and seasons such as these. Any injury that ends prematurely is difficult to deal with. That’s how the game works. As he threw on the play in which he was hurt, he continued, describing feeling “a pop.”

The Associated Press earlier on Friday stated that the NFL was looking into how the team handled Burrow’s injury condition prior to that game. The Bengals shared a video of Burrow stepping off a team bus with his right hand in what looked to be a soft cast on social media, which they later removed. Reviews like these are typical; the NFL often investigates incidents that are comparable. If a team violates the NFL’s injury report policy, they risk fines and even losing a draft pick.

“When you go up to that altitude, things can swell up, so it’s not uncommon for guys to wear compression sleeves on a plane,” Burrow remarked on Friday. “You have a lot of bumps and bruises, football.” This injury is entirely novel.

When he left, Burrow was 11 of 17 for 101 yards and a touchdown pass. The Bengals were behind 14–10 when Browning took his place.

Despite a calf injury he sustained earlier in the season, the former Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft hasn’t missed a game. A knee injury also forced him to finish his debut season early.

“Watching someone go through this, you know, multiple times now, it kills you,” Taylor remarked.

Deshaun Watson will require season-ending shoulder surgery, meaning the Bengals’ AFC North opponents, the Cleveland Browns, will be without their starting quarterback this week.