Bengals sign a quarterback with Joe Burrow’s health status still up in the air for Week 3

With Joe Burrow’s status still up in the air this week, the Bengals have decided to add some QB insurance. The team announced on Friday that they’ve signed Reid Sinnett to their practice squad. 

The signing means that the Bengals now have a total of three quarterbacks on their roster: Burrow, Jake Browning and Sinnett. The signing of Sinnett makes sense because he’s somewhat familiar with the Bengals offense after spending all of training camp with them. The 26-year-old was signed in late July before being cut in late August.

If Burrow can’t play on Monday against the Rams, then Browning still step into the starting job and Sinnett will serve as his backup. 

The Bengals were forced to sign a quarterback on Friday after the Patriots poached Will Grier from their practice squad. Grier had been the third QB on Cincinnati’s roster, but after he signed with New England, that left the Bengals with just two quarterbacks, which put them in a precarious position, especially considering Burrow’s current health status. 

Burrow didn’t practice Thursday and the team has been mum about whether he’s going to play on Monday night. Burrow said on Thursday that he’d like to practice at least once this week if he’s going to play against the Rams. 

“You have to practice one day. Maybe not full, but you’ve got to be running around throwing the ball,” Burrow said Thursday, via the Bengals official website. “You just have to feel confident in your ability to go out and do the job. I don’t know yet. We’ll see. We’ll see how we feel the next couple of days. I don’t really have an answer for you there.”

Although Burrow sounded hopeful of playing, he also admitted that the final call on his status might not belong to him. 

“That may not be my decision to make,” Burrow said. “My job is to go out and play. That’s what I’m preparing to do. I’m preparing like I’m going to go out and play a “Monday Night Football” game. Whether that happens, I don’t know but I’m going to be prepared to.”

After missing a month of training camp due to a calf injury that he suffered in late July, Burrow returned in Week 1, only to aggravate the injury in a Week 2 loss to the Ravens. Burrow’s calf isn’t going to get any better if he keeps playing on it, which is why this is such a tough call for the Bengals.