We haven’t even started Week 3, but several NFL teams are dealing with injuries to their most important players. The first two weeks of the season were a bit of a bloodbath when it comes to quarterbacks. Brock Purdy went down in Week 1, followed by Justin Fields and J.J. McCarthy in Week 2. Jayden Daniels is highly questionable for this week, as well.
But without a doubt, the biggest blow came for the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow, primed for another statistically elite season, suffered a turf toe injury that is considered a worst case scenario, Grade 3. It didn’t take long for Burrow’s diagnosis to come through, and now it’s simply a wait and see approach while Jake Browning takes over as the team’s starting quarterback.
Joe Burrow is unlikely to return this season, if history is any indication
A Grade 3 turf toe injury means Burrow completely tore ligaments, which means he will require surgery. The initial timeline to return is being floated as three months, but is that actually wishful thinking?
Russ Heltman of SI.com uncovered a study done in 2021 by The Orthopaedic Journal at Harvard Medical School, in which the topic of return to play timelines for players who suffer high-grade turf toes injuries is addressed. The study noted that all 25 players who suffered turf toe injuries requiring surgery from 2000 to 2017 did not return to play in the same season.
The silver lining is that Burrow suffered the injury very early in the season, and not all of those players had as much time to come back. But a more concerning note may be that “some NFL athletes are unable to return to their prior level of performance” following surgery on that type of injury.
The Bengals are hoping Burrow can return by the end of this season, but they may want to play it safe in order to have their franchise quarterback recover completely for the future.
Read the full article here
