The Cincinnati Bengals remain confident in Joe Burrow’s return timetable in the wake of his injury.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced Monday the team expects Burrow to be ready to go at some point in the 2021 season.
Tuesday morning, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo followed that up by confirming Burrow has an ACL and MCL tear, plus some expected cartilage damage — but that the team feels encouraged by what they saw and is quite confident given the circumstances:
“I am told that actually they were encouraged by what they saw with the imaging on Monday. They know it’s going to be a long, thorough rehab process…We’ll see if Burrow’s ready for Week 1, but I do know that there is a lot of confidence that he’s going to come back fully from this one, maybe not 100 percent by the start of next season, but perhaps on the field for the start of next season.”
At this point, the timing of the surgery itself will end up giving onlookers a better idea of a projected Burrow return. Monday, Taylor said he didn’t know when that would happen just yet.
While Burrow tackles this lengthy rehab, the Bengals have plenty of decisions to make, starting right at the top — though one expert says Taylor’s job isn’t in danger.
Besides decisions with the coaching staff, the Bengals have obvious needs to upgrade like the offensive line, plus currently sit at No. 3 in the upcoming draft order.
From @gmfb: The #Bengals and doctors were encouraged by what they saw in the imaging of Joe Burrow's knee. Yes, it's a multi-ligament injury, but they're optimistic about 2021 and beyond. pic.twitter.com/aKbygLRJnp
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 24, 2020
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