What did the Bengals’ Joe Burrow say about his calf after Monday night’s win against Los Angeles Rams?

Heading into Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Cincinnati Bengals were faced with a critical choice: Start quarterback Joe Burrow or veteran practice-squad QB, Jake Browning. For the purpose of context, the team’s ambitions were hanging in the balance with a 0-2 start and the condition of Burrow’s ailing calf still up in the air.

Joe Burrow knowingly took the risk of re-injury

With a 19-16 win over the Rams now behind them, we can all agree that the Bengals have two reasons to celebrate. The first of course is that they have - for the moment - stopped the rot. With their season in dire straights after the aforementioned 0-2 start, the Bengals were at risk of dropping to 0-3 and they didn’t. The second is without doubt Joe Burrow’s status. Having recently become the highest-paid player in NFL history, it goes without saying that his absence in Week 3 would have been a major blow. That’s not to say that Burrow is 100% healthy, but he came through the contest unscathed and for that reason, the Bengals can most definitely be happy.

If you missed it, Burrow first suffered the injury during the very first week of training camp. Though he would return to practice in late July - a month later - he would go on to re-aggravate the injury during the Bengals’ Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Of course, that’s now in the past and according to Burrow himself following Monday’s win, he’s only looking toward the future. “No, today we got through it,” Burrow said. “Got it through it, no injuries, so moving on to next week.” Interestingly, Burrow also gave insight as to his thinking, admitting that the gains were worth the risk. “There is risk to go out there and potentially re-injure it, but there’s also a risk to go out there and be 0-3,” he said after the game, “So I wanted to be out there for my guys, and I was confident I was going to be able to do what I needed to do to get the win.”

So, where do Joe Burrow and the Bengals go from here?

It’s worth noting that the Bengals started last season 0-2 as well, before going on to beat the New York Jets in Week 3 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 4. In the end, Burrow and Co. finished with a record of 12-4 and it goes without saying that they will be looking to do the same this year. “We’re getting there,” Burrow said of his calf while looking forward. “Every week will be better barring there’s no more setbacks. We’re going to keep working hard to get healthy. Move on to this week.”

OK, but how did Joe Burrow play?

With his calf visibly insulated by a whole lot of tape, Burrow took to the field and proceeded to complete 17-of-31 passes in the first half. Though he initially started with short-distance connections, he would begin to extend his range as the game progressed, eventually finishing with 259 passing yards to the tune of 26-of-49 passing yards. Regarding who was targeted, that would be the usual suspect Ja’Marr Chase who caught 12 of 15 targets for 141 yards. Those stats followed on from Burrow’s own comments following his team’s Week 2 loss, that he would find a way to involve Chase more following two performances in which he caught a total of 10 passes for 70 yards. “He was great tonight,” Burrow said of Chase. “I came into this game thinking I was just going to feed my guy. He came up big for us.”

What about the Bengals as a team?

Monday night’s performance was clearly Cincinnati’s best offensive effort of the season so far. Even recently reworked Joe Mixon got in on the act with his first touchdown of the season, while Burrow shared the wealth as evidenced by the fact that he hit eight different teammates. Where the OL was concerned, they allowed just two sacks on Burrow, both of which occurred in the first half. Yet, the plaudits don’t belong to the offense alone. On the night, it was clear that the entirety of Zac Taylor’s team understood the task at hand. From Evan McPherson who nailed four of his five field goal attempts, to the defense which not only picked Rams QB Matthew Stafford twice but also sacked him on six occasions. Sam Hubbard and Logan Wilson were especially ruthless with two interceptions and two sacks respectively. “When you have a defense like that, it makes your job as a quarterback easy,” Burrow said. “It makes you take less chances and put the ball in safe spots. They played great tonight.” Up next for the Bengals is a trip to Nashville where they will take on the 1-2 Titans. Keep an eye on them.