Bengals' Joe Burrow Opting for Rest over Surgery on Knee Injury from Super Bowl

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow picked up a knee injury late in last month's Super Bowl LVI loss to the Los Angeles Rams, but he apparently doesn't face a hard road in his recovery.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Tuesday that Burrow is opting for rest instead of undergoing surgery as he prepares for the 2022 season.

Burrow is considered to be one of the brightest young stars in the NFL today. He led the Bengals on a surprising run to the Super Bowl in just his second year in the NFL after his rookie season was derailed by a torn ACL.

After such a promising start to his career, Burrow is expected to take a leap in his third year that is customary of most successful quarterbacks. As long as he's able to stay healthy this offseason, he should be able to do just that.

During the 2021 season, Burrow completed 70.4 percent of his passes for 4,611 yards with 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also had five scores and just two picks in four postseason games. Any improvement on those numbers would put the Bengals in a solid position to defend their AFC championship.

But if Cincinnati wants to be competitive next season, it will have to address its offensive line to help protect its franchise quarterback. Burrow was sacked 51 times last season and 19 times in the playoffs. The team has eight draft picks this year and $48.9 million in starting salary cap space, so it would be wise to use some of that to improve its pass protection.