Bengals' Joe Burrow Says He's Thought About His 'Football Mortality' amid Injury Woes

Joe Burrow has been no stranger to injuries during his short NFL career. His rookie season was cut short due to a torn ACL, while his 2023 season ended prematurely due to a torn ligament in his right wrist.

Burrow told reporters on Tuesday that those sorts of injuries had him contemplating his "football mortality" this offseason.

In total, Burrow has missed 14 games in his four NFL seasons. When healthy he's been superb, earning a Pro Bowl bid, leading the Bengals to the postseason twice and the Super Bowl once.

That earned him a five-year, $275 million extension ahead of the 2023 season.

His injury this past season came amid a rash of injuries at the quarterback position, however. Players like Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, Kirk Cousins, Anthony Richardson, Deshaun Watson and Daniel Jones all saw their seasons cut short, while a number of other players at the position dealt with injuries.

"It's tough," Burrow told reporters in November after his own campaign ended. "You work so hard for seasons and moments like these. Whenever you get hurt and it ends early, it's tough to handle. That's a part of the game."

"It kills you to watch somebody have to go through this, you know, several times now," head coach Zac Taylor added at the time.

Cincinnati's success has been directly correlated to Burrow's health. In the two seasons he made it through largely healthy, the team ended up in the playoffs. In the two seasons he didn't, the Bengals missed the postseason (though in his rookie year, he was just 2-7-1 as the starter, so Cincy wasn't heading to the playoffs regardless).

In the past three seasons, the Bengals are 27-15 when Burrow plays and 6-8 when he's out. Jake Browning played admirably in his stead this past season, going 4-3 as the starter down the stretch, but the Bengals will go as far as Burrow can take them.