Bengals' Joe Burrow on Calf Injury Ahead of Week 5: 'This Is the Best I've Felt'

It's been fairly obvious that Joe Burrow has struggled with the calf injury he suffered during the summer, as the Cincinnati Bengals offense has limped to a slow start early in the 2023 campaign.

But Burrow feels as though he's on the mend.

"This is the best I've felt after a game," he told reporters Wednesday. "So I am optimistic."

The 26-year-old has thrown for 728 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions to open the season, completing just 57.6 percent of his passes while taking eight sacks. The Bengals are just 1-3 and are a woeful 29th in yards per game (166) and 31st in points scored per contest (12.3).

But Burrow has also led the team to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game in the past two seasons, so there's a general sense of belief that the Bengals can turn things around.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks, that's for sure," Burrow told reporters. "But we're going to get through it. We've got tough, resilient guys in there. We've got mentally tough guys who've been through a lot, so we know how to handle these situations."

Every week is essentially a playoff game for the Bengals at this point. Falling to 1-4 on the season would create a massive hole to climb out of, and the Arizona Cardinals have proven to be no pushovers despite their 1-3 record.

"A lot of different reasons," Burrow told reporters after he was asked why he thought Week 5 was a must-win game for the Bengals. "We've got to go in and get a win on the road. We haven't had a road win yet. We pride ourselves on the road. Playing a really good football team, good defense, good scheme. We need it for our morale, for our rankings, we need it for everything."

The Bengals came into the season as Super Bowl contenders. Burrow's injury and a 1-3 record has slowed that talk, but if he is getting closer to 100 percent and the Bengals can put together a winning streak, they'll return to their former status as one of the bigger threats in a loaded AFC.