The Joe Burrow situation for the Cincinnati Bengals continues to perplex most onlookers.
While playing through an injury, Burrow has been one of the league’s statistically worst quarterbacks and it has led to speculation about the actual severity of his injury and whether the team would consider going a different direction while he heals.
Experts and/or insiders are just as miffed about the whole thing, though during a sitdown talking about notable quarterback situations, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano brought up some good points:
Graziano: The Bengals’ belief is Burrow’s calf will continually improve as long as he doesn’t pull it again, and I think a lot of what you’re seeing is his own effort to be as safe as possible with it and prevent a major setback. It’s a risky strategy, but as Burrow himself said after the Week 3 victory over the Rams, there’s a risk of losing too many games as well.
The problem with this is what fans saw unfold during the Week 4 loss in Tennessee, where the Titans knew this all too well and blitzed endlessly, often not bothering to put players in rushing lanes Burrow would have taken last season.
Bengals coaches have come under fire from fans for what feels like an inefficient working-around of this calf issue.
Now at 1-3, the team doesn’t have long to get things right given the stunning historical long-shot odds of making the playoffs after falling to 1-4. Burrow will start against the Cardinals over the weekend and the hope has to be that his mobility is improved.
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