NFL Rumors: Joe Burrow, Bengals Managing Calf Injury to Maximize Health for Week 1

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals have a plan in place to manage his calf injury that they hope will have him back to full strength for the start of the regular season.

Per ESPN's Ben Baby, the Bengals have been "cautious" with their star quarterback since he suffered the injury, including limiting his time away from the team's facilities and keeping him off his leg as much as possible:

"Burrow didn't travel for the team's second preseason game so he could maximize his recovery time, according to a team source. Another source said Burrow was not participating in team walkthroughs ahead of the team's preseason finale against Washington, with the thinking that staying off the calf could maximize his health for Week 1."

Burrow suffered the injury during 11-on-11 drills at practice on July 27. He was scrambling on a play when he pulled up limping before going to the ground to get off of his legs.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters the following day that Burrow would miss "several weeks," but he didn't put a more specific timetable on it.

Speaking to the media earlier this week, Taylor once again declined to say anything about when the Pro Bowler might get back on the field.

"He looks great," Taylor said on Monday. "Physically just walking around, he looks probably as good as he's ever looked at this point. That's a positive and we'll just go from there."

Baby noted the Bengals' expectation is Burrow will start in Week 1, but it's not a guarantee that he will be fully recovered at that point and they may adjust their game plan accordingly similar to what they did early in the 2021 season when he was coming back from the knee injury that ended his rookie year after 10 games.

"There is an adjustment there depending on how he feels, where you do have to change a little bit of what you ask him to do and how he plays. It's hard to get guys to come out of their natural play state. But sometimes you have to," offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told Baby.

Trevor Siemian, Jake Browning and Reid Sinnett are the other quarterbacks on Cincinnati's roster, though Sinnett has yet to play in the preseason.

Siemian and Browning have each started one game so far this preseason. Taylor has yet to announce who will be the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart when the regular season begins, nor has he said who will start Saturday's preseason finale against the Washington Commanders.

Burrow hasn't missed a game due to injuries over the past two seasons. He sat out the final regular-season game in 2021 when the Bengals had already clinched a playoff berth.

Cincinnati will open the 2023 season on Sept. 10 against the Cleveland Browns.