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Looking back at Joe Burrow's road to recovery from wrist surgery

When Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow first looked at his game plan in May, one particular play caught his eye.

Week 10: Bengals at Ravens on “Thursday Night Football.”

Thursday's game marks the nearly one-year anniversary of Burrow's wrist injury. On November 16, 2023, Burrow suffered the injury on national television and learned within 24 hours that his season was over.

Asked if he could remember his exact thoughts after taking a hit from Jadeveon Clowney that eventually tore the shoulder ligament in his throwing wrist, Burrow said he realized it pretty quickly once he got to the sideline and tried to throw out that something was seriously wrong.

“I wasn’t sure what to think at first,” Burrow said of the injury. “I was just focused on finding a way to get back out there. But then you try to throw and you realize it's not going to happen. And then, after the game, I kind of thought something wasn’t so great.”

By the next afternoon, the Bengals had enough information to declare Burrow's season over. Head coach Zac Taylor announced in his press conference that his franchise quarterback would undergo season-ending surgery, and from that moment on, Burrow began to process the comeback he had to make again.

At this point in the season, Cincinnati was 5-4 and hoping to regain momentum after a slow start, largely due to Burrow's preseason calf injury. After he admittedly rushed to get back on the field, the Bengals felt like they could make another run with a healthy Burrow.

Then another reality hit for Burrow and Taylor – one much worse than the news of a calf strain. Just four years into his NFL career, Burrow had to overcome another horrific injury that required surgery. During Burrow's rookie season with the Bengals, he tore his ACL in November and missed the rest of the season.

“I just remember having a one-on-one with him in the locker room after the game,” Taylor said of Burrow's wrist injury last year against the Ravens. “It is a difficult situation when you lose a player, especially when he is so important in such an important position. But my job is to make sure everything continues, and there's nothing you can do about the circumstances. I am very human. At that moment I felt a punch in the pit of my stomach.”

For the next nine months, Burrow and the Bengals had to listen to non-stop questions about whether Burrow's wrist would ever be the same. And what made the situation even more dramatic was that the Bengals had just given Burrow a historic contract extension that made him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.

Sure, the Bengals hoped he would return and be the same player he once was, but no one knew except Burrow, who said he never allowed himself to wallow in self-pity.

“I was definitely devastated, but I've been through this before and I've been dealing with it for several years and I know how to get through it and you just have to focus on getting better.” day,” Burrow said. “And, you know, in about a year you'll be fine and you'll have everything behind you, so you just have to attack every day like you're trying to get better and go from there. ”

The injury Burrow suffered was not one that many NFL players had suffered and overcome. In fact, no other NFL quarterback has ever dealt with this injury, which only added to the speculation surrounding Burrow's return.

But throughout his career, Burrow has been on a mission to write his own story. He dedicated himself to the weight room and changed his diet. He did everything he could to get his body in the best shape possible, and when he could start throwing again, he would do his best.

Slowly, Burrow regained strength, dexterity and mobility in his wrist. He began throwing in the spring and joined the Bengals in May to participate in organized team activities. The Bengals closely monitored his representatives and set a schedule for him to ensure they didn't put too much pressure on him.

Throughout the process, Burrow was very open about the ups and downs of his recovery process. Burrow repeatedly stated that he would have good days and bad days and continues to receive wrist treatment to this day. He was listed as a full participant on every Bengals injury report this season, but with a wrist injury. According to the NFL's injury reporting policy, a player who receives any treatment must be included on the injury report.

When training camp began, Burrow was throwing the ball well but still wasn't pushing it down the field in the air. There were still questions about whether this was because his wrist didn't yet have full strength.

All anyone in the Bengals organization cared about was getting Burrow into Week 1 without suffering a setback. So if that meant controlling his reps and structuring the offense to avoid calling plays that put strain on his wrist, they were willing to do that, even though they never publicly said that was the plan.

Then the Bengals lost in the season opener to the New England Patriots and Burrow didn't attempt a pass of more than 30 yards in the game. Burrow again had to face repeated questions about the condition of his wrist.

He continued to downplay his wrist injury and reassured everyone that the Bengals' offensive issues against the Patriots were not due to his wrist. Cincinnati's problems were more due to Burrow not playing well, primarily because he had no game reps up to that point and Ja'Marr Chase didn't practice during training camp.

In Week 2, the whole world would get an answer as to whether Burrow would ever be the same player he once was. And as he has done many times in his career so far, he delivers when the light shines brightest on him.

Burrow looked much better throwing the ball and seemed more comfortable in the pocket. Cincinnati's offense played well enough to nearly beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2. The Bengals lost in the final seconds of the game, but Burrow's performance was far from the reason for their loss.

From mid-September to now, Burrow is playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL. Before suffering the wrist injury, Burrow was considered one of the three best quarterbacks in the league by most observers of the game.

He's back to where he was and that's a testament to his commitment off the field. Burrow is intrinsically motivated and for many professional athletes, an injury like this could derail their career. Burrow admitted that his wrist currently feels better than it has ever since the injury, which makes sense considering the original time frame for recovery from a scapholunar tear is 9-12 months.

The Bengals are 4-5 heading into a must-win game against the Ravens, and while Burrow will likely feel some emotion as he returns to the place he was at at almost the exact same time After sustaining the gruesome injury, he remained focused solely on playing as well as he could to bring his team a win.

Burrow joked that NFL planners put this game on the calendar when and where for a reason. He knows it's no coincidence that he's returning to Baltimore.

“If a star player gets injured in a prime-time game, he wants to schedule the exact same game a year later, in the same week, at the same time,” Burrow said. “I think that’s what happened to Aaron Rodgers this year. It happened to me this year. I think it’s something they enjoy doing.”

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