Joe Burrow 'Sore' After Calf Injury, Status vs. Rams TBD, Bengals' Zac Taylor Says

The availability of Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams is up in the air.

Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters Burrow "is still sore today." He added it's "hard to say" for now whether the QB will be good to go in one week's time.

Burrow said after Cincinnati's Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens that he re-aggravated the strained right calf that he suffered during training camp. He said "tweaked it a little bit" on the Bengals' final offensive drive of the game, though he would've re-entered the game if Cincinnati had another possession.

He noted at the time that he was unsure of the severity of the injury.

"I'm not sure how it's going to feel the next couple days," Burrow said. "It's pretty sore right now. No telling how it's going to feel. So, I think we're going to take it day by day."

The Bengals made Burrow the highest-paid player in NFL history by signing him to a five-year, $275 million contract extension with $219.01 million guaranteed.

Unfortunately, Cincinnati's 2023 campaign got off to a rough start with back-to-back losses to the Ravens and the Cleveland Browns. Burrow struggled mightily in the season opener, throwing for just 82 yards on 14-of-31 passing in a 24-3 loss against Cleveland. He bounced back with 222 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 27-24 loss to Baltimore.

If Burrow is forced to miss time, the only other quarterback on the Bengals roster is Jake Browning, who has yet to see significant action since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He appeared in all three of Cincinnati's preseason games and completed 71.1 percent of his passes for 277 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.