Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is out for the season with a torn ligament, according to head coach Zac Taylor.
The Bengals announced the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday afternoon.
Burrow had an unusual injury on Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens. It's not often a quarterback grabs his wrist in pain on the follow through from a touchdown pass.
Burrow threw a touchdown to Joe Mixon and reached down for his right wrist. He was in obvious pain. The Amazon Prime Video broadcast showed Burrow trying to take warmup passes on the sideline afterward and he couldn't grip the ball. He went back to the locker room, and was ruled out early in the second half.
After the game Bengals coach Zac Taylor said it "looked like" Burrow suffered a sprained wrist.
Jake Browning took over as the Bengals' quarterback. Browning was undrafted out of Washington in 2019 and didn't even get a chance to appear in an NFL game until the season opener this year, when he threw incomplete on his only pass. That was his only NFL pass until he was pressed into duty on Thursday night. On Thursday night Browning threw for 68 yards, most of which came on Cincinnati's final drive of a 34-20 loss.
The Bengals will have to answer questions about Burrow perhaps being injured before the game, as the NFL will reportedly investigate the timeline leading up to Thursday night. A video of Burrow getting off a team bus showed him with what appeared to be a brace on his wrist or hand. Burrow was not listed on the injury report.
Burrow, who signed a five-year, $275 million contract in September, started the season with an injury. He suffered a calf injury early in training camp. He was back on the field for Week 1 but clearly wasn't at full strength. The Bengals struggled to a 1-3 record to start the season. But Burrow's calf improved, he looked a lot better and the Bengals won four in a row. They looked like a Super Bowl contender again. Despite a loss in Week 10 to the Houston Texans, they came into Thursday night's game with hopes of beating the Ravens and being back in the AFC North race.
Now, it looks like an uphill battle just to make the playoffs without their franchise quarterback.