Former LSU Heisman-winning quarterback [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] entered the NFL with high expectations when he was drafted first overall by Cincinnati, and he has lived up to that hype.
Burrow ended a futile playoff victory drought for the Bengals and brought them to the brink of a Super Bowl in 2021. When healthy, he’s among the league’s best quarterbacks.
But staying healthy has been a problem for Burrow so far. He missed most of his rookie season with a torn ACL, and he’s coming off another injury-plagued season. After dealing with a calf injury in fall camp, Burrow’s season ended with a torn ligament in his wrist.
That recovery process seems to have caused Burrow to reflect on his career and what he called his “football mortality.”
“Whenever the injuries start to stack up, your football mortality kind of comes into the back of your mind,” Burrow said following mandatory minicamp practice, per NFL.com. “So that’s definitely something I’ve thought about and something I have had to fight through.”
Burrow declined to go into detail on what percentage of health he’s currently practicing at, but he expects to be ready to go by the season. He said he’s not pushing the timeline of his recovery.
“That’s something we’re being more proactive about this year,” Burrow said. “We don’t have to be ready to go in the middle of June. We have to be ready to go early September through February. That’s how we’re attacking this offseason and this rehab plan and these practices and training camp. We’re attacking it like I want to be out there playing in February.”
Burrow will hope to stay on the field and get back to the NFL’s elite class of quarterbacks in 2024.
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