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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered an apparent ankle injury on what appeared to be a late shove out of bounds by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree in Week 10.
Burrow, after releasing a pass, landed out of bounds, then appeared to get a light tap from Dupree. He slammed into the bench on the sidelines, then grabbed at his ankle.
Asked about it after the game, Burrow dismissed the actions of Dupree, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby: “It wasn’t a hit or anything. He (Bud Dupree) might have pushed me a little late, but it wasn’t a hit.”
Burrow also noted that, generally speaking, the Steelers weren’t over the top:
Joe Burrow had a few opportunities to complain about hits he took today and didn't bite at all.
Burrow: "I think Pittsburgh did a good job of not hitting me too late. If they did, they kind of held me up and didn't fall on me."
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) November 16, 2020
Instead, Burrow attributed the loss to himself, not the rolled ankle that might have impacted his play, as captured by Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:
“I missed throws. That’s all it came down to. You’re not going to be able to win football games against a team like the Steelers as good as they are when your quarterback plays like I did in the second half.”
That’s the attitude the Bengals and fans have come to expect from the No. 1 pick, of course. But the little shove by Dupree was as blatant as it gets and it’s fair to wonder how much the ankle issue impacted Burrow’s play the rest of the way.
Like everything else this year, Burrow has had to learn on the fly and mentally log what he can and can’t do. Now he knows what to expect when he encounters arguably his biggest rival in the AFC North.
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