Joe Burrow “tweaked” his calf injury during the Cincinnati Bengals’ 27-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday; the Bengals have started 0-2 for a second successive NFL campaign; Burrow also vows to get wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase more involved with offense
Last Updated: 17/09/23 11:54pm
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has admitted his calf injury could continue to be a problem throughout the NFL season, after aggravating the issue during Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Burrow limped off the field late in the 27-24 loss that dropped the Bengals to 0-2 for the season, and afterwards confirmed that he had “just tweaked it a little bit again.”
Having missed most of the pre-season with the issue, Burrow finished 27-41 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, after passing for just 82 in last weekend’s season-opening loss to Cleveland.
“We’re going to have to wait and see,” Burrow said after the game.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to feel the next couple of days. It’s pretty sore right now, but no telling how it’s going to fell, so I think we’re going to take it day by day.
Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals have lost their first two games of the NFL season
“We’ll give it a couple of nights, a couple of sleeps, and we’ll see, we’ll go from there.
“Whenever you have these kind of things, it’s always ongoing, it’s always something that you’re managing. I don’t know how I’m going to feel the next couple of days, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Asked whether he expects the injury to be something he needs to continue to manage throughout the campaign, Burrow added: “I don’t know. It’s tough to tell, tough to look into the future and see that.
“I’m doing everything I can to get healthy and get that thing the way I need it to so I can go out and perform the way I need to, to win, we’ll see.”
Burrow ‘still confident’ | ‘We need to get Chase involved’
The Bengals recovered from an 0-2 start last season to finish AFC North champions with a 12-4 record, and Burrow insists the team are capable of producing a similar turnaround.
The 26-year-old old has pinpointed getting off to quicker starts as a key factor in enabling the team’s offense to flourish.
“When your quarterback misses camp, it’s tough to start fast. It’s not an ideal situation,” Burrow said.
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Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones rushes for an 80-yard punt return touchdown.
“I’m still confident. I feel really confident in all the guys we have that in that room.
“We always want to start fast. Teams play us soft, keep everything in front.
“I think we did a good job of taking what they gave us today, but if you start fast, teams think twice about playing that way, so we’ve got to start fast.”
Along with Burrow, Bengals’ star receiver Ja’Marr Chase has made an underwhelming start to the season, hauling in just five receptions in each game, without scoring a touchdown.
Ja’Marr Chase has had a disappointing start to the campaign
Both of Burrow’s touchdown throws on Sunday went to his usual secondary option Tee Higgins, and the quarterback has admitted he needs to do more increase Chase’s output.
“I think we threw him (Chase) a couple today, we’ll go watch the film and check it out,” Burrow said. “It’s tough to tell from just sitting here and not having watched the tape. We’ll go back and re-evaluate that.
“We need to get him involved, he’s our best player on offense, so we need to find a way to get him off.”
Burrow will have extra time to recover for the Bengals Week Three fixture, which is a Monday Night Football clash with the Los Angeles, live on Sky Sports at 1:15am in the early hours of Tuesday, September 26.