Despite not playing a down of football since undergoing appendix surgery on July 27, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow looked in midseason form when he took the field on Sunday. For the first time since training camp started, Burrow was on the field. And he was smiling.
So were his coaches and teammates. Burrow looked every bit of the quarterback he showed himself to be during his stunning sophomore campaign. There were lofted dimes, laser beams and everything in between for the former No. 1 overall pick. It was an impressive display, one that made something very clear to Cincinnati personnel: Burrow is back.
“He was smooth as usual, cooler than the flip side of a pillow,” linebacker Logan Wilson said, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He threw one and looked back at Coach Taylor. I was like, ‘I’m glad to have you on my team.’ He’s the leader of this franchise.”
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Here’s the latest news regarding Burrow’s impending return to the gridiron.
Joe Burrow injury update
Burrow had his appendix removed on July 27, following reports that the Bengals star had appendicitis. While the procedure is quite common — a National Library of Medicine study found that nearly 10 percent of participants had their appendices removed — Burrow’s timeline for recovery looked slated to last a bit longer than expected, according to his father.
“It’s actually a major surgery unless it’s just routine so it’s set him back a ways, but he seems to be getting better every day and hopefully here in a few weeks, he’ll be back out on the field,” Jim Burrow said.
Jim Burrow provided that update on Aug. 5. It appears Burrow’s treatment has gone as well as one could expect, allowing the QB to return to the practice field a little quicker than his father initially expected.
Burrow was slated to take part in two of the team’s 7-on-7 drills. He participated in all 10. And after a cautious start, Burrow looked impressive, showing off the precision and arm strength that made him such a force in 2021. It was a sight to see, according to wide receiver Trenton Irwin, who Burrow linked up with on a floated deep ball.
“Man, he was throwing some dots,” Irwin said. “I didn’t know (what to expect). I knew it was a play we could win on, and I thought it might come up. What the limitation was, I didn’t know. I hadn’t even seen him throw a ball over 10 yards.”
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He continued throwing dimes all day. There was one to Kwamie Lassiter II, placed perfectly between a pair of defensive backs. Another one — perhaps Burrow’s best of the day, according to those on-site — went to Stanley Morgan Jr. for a 20-yard gain.
With his strong showing over the weekend, it appears Burrow will be back on the field sooner rather than later. That only means bad things for defenders, per Wilson.
“He picked up where he left off,” Wilson said. “You shouldn’t expect anything different.”
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