Fans must have been happy to learn Joe Burrow would play the Week 2 game against Houston. The quarterback played through back issues, and even joked with Texans’ William Anderson Jr. about “[popping his] rib back into place.” However, Burrow assures there’s no cause for worry.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Yeah, I’m good to go,” he said after the game, via WLWT5. “It’s a little sore after the game, but no problems. There’s a lot of people across this league playing with tight backs. No big deal.”
Burrow had a tight back after the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He took a heavy hit in the first quarter from linebacker Alex Anzalone directly to his right shoulder, which caused him to fall and hurt his back.
Burrow was initially put on “questionable” status after his knock and was also limited in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices, which further worried the fans. However, Burrow immediately dismissed claims that he wouldn’t start in Week 2 as “ridiculous” and told the media he would “be out there” if the injury didn’t worsen. But Friday came with some positive news, as he returned to full practice.
After multiple speculations and the Bengals even taking precautions of moving veteran quarterback Josh Johnson to the main roster, Burrow finally came out of the tunnel, starting for the Bengals, in what looked like a decent display by him, completing 20-0f-31 passes for 207 yards, including two touchdowns, both to star wideout Ja’Marr Chase.
This was only the second time Burrow has thrown for over 200 yards in each of his first two games of a season. He also accomplished yet another feat with Chase, having combined for 50 touchdowns, which only three other QB-WR pairs have surpassed before they turned 30.
But it wasn’t as clean a day as Burrow would’ve looked for, as he was sacked five times by the Texans. No wonder the quarterback made that joke.
“I was incredibly average,” Burrow said after the game. “We’re getting better, but it’s a great win. We did some good things, but a lot to learn from.”
However, fans know better than to forget their concerns. They are rooting for a team that lost eight of the nine games Burrow sat out when he injured his toe last season. The quarterback’s previous injuries have also held back the Bengals from winning seasons.
Fans have yet another thing to worry about: rumors about Burrow leaving the Bengals are rising steadily.
Is Joe Burrow on the verge of saying goodbye to the Bengals?
This speculation might not sit well with Bengals fans, but many pundits believe this to be Burrow’s last season with the franchise. Burrow has repeatedly emphasized that 2026 is “the year” for the Bengals to finally bring home the Super Bowl.
“You can keep pushing it down the road or you can talk about it now and say this is the year,” Burrow said on August. “You know, I’m tired of saying, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ This is it.
“Your life is too short to keep pushing things down the road. I’m trying to instill some urgency and some intensity in everybody to go and be great every day and try to make it happen.”
Joe Burrow, by all means, is a championship-winning quarterback. He made the Super Bowl in his second year in the league, two years after he won the National Championship for LSU with an unbeaten 15-0 record. But this is now Year 7 for him, and the Bengals unfortunately haven’t been able to get there ever since.
That is why there’s this ominous feeling about the Bengals’ 2026 campaign. Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson also said that “Burrow is gone” if Cincinnati doesn’t succeed.
For what it’s worth, Burrow has said that he’s “not going anywhere.”
“I’m just trying to bring a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process,” he added. “If you’re not, what are you doing? Attack the day with a championship mindset. The rest will take care of itself.”
But we will revisit this avenue when the Bengals wrap up their 2026 run. Does Burrow still feel the same way?
Only time will tell how the season and his career path go, but for now, the Bengals seem to be on the right track after being 2-0 in the season.