Joe Burrow has been sidelined since suffering an extremely painful and difficult-to-navigate turf toe injury in a Week 3 victory. The All-Pro quarterback was immediately placed on the injured reserve list and then underwent surgery in hopes he could somehow make it back to the Bengals with their playoff dreams still alive. And while that outcome is still very much up in the air thanks to a 3-6 record, it appears Burrow has cleared a significant hurdle on the path back to the lineup.
Ian Rapoport shared a major development for Burrow on Monday morning in reporting that the signal-caller is returning to practice. Burrow is still on injured reserved and has 21 days to be activated. And obviously he'll be limited when he does make his way back to the practice field.
A major development for the #Bengals: QB Joe Burrow is returning to practice.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 10, 2025
A little under two months after toe surgery, Burrow has his practice window opened, and he’ll be limited. Still on Injured Reserve, he has 21 days to be activated. A December return is real. pic.twitter.com/KqkFZwMsya
All the obvious caveats apply here. It was less than two months ago that Burrow underwent surgery on his toe. And this type of injury can be hard to predict. Still, it feels like this is a good day for Bengals fans still harboring hope.
Cincinnati is approaching a particularly grueling part of its schedule with trips to Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Baltimore with a home spot against New England sandwiched in. Losing more than one will effectively eliminate all hope of making the postseason.
Fox's Jay Glazer said that Burrow's "attack of rehab and response" has been "unreal," leading to the quarterback believing he can return by Thanksgiving.
Last week Joe Burrow told me he’s returning wayyyy sooner than was expected and gave me the timeline of “by Thanksgiving.” Now will start practicing on a limited basis. Absolutely unreal attack of rehab and response. At first medical people didn’t believe he’d be back before…
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) November 10, 2025
Stay tuned.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Burrow Takes Big Step Back to Possibly Returning to Bengals.
