Joe Burrow undergoes successful wrist surgery; Bengals QB is expected to make full recovery

For the second time, Joe Burrow has undergone in-season surgery. The Bengals‘ Pro Bowl quarterback, who was lost for the year after injuring his right wrist in Week 11, underwent surgery Monday. 

The Bengals issued the following statement regarding Burrow’s surgery: 

“Joe Burrow underwent successful surgery on his wrist today. The procedure went as planned and he is expected to make a complete recovery. 

Joe will return to Cincinnati this week to be with the team and begin the recovery and rehab process.” 

Specifically, Burrow tore a ligament in his right wrist during Cincinnati’s loss to the Ravens on Nov. 16. The injury occurred just before halftime. Jake Browning replaced Burrow, who missed the remainder of the game after experiencing pain while trying to throw on the sideline. 

It was barely 12 hours after that game when the Bengals announced that Burrow’s injury was season-ending. Like his rookie season in 2020, Burrow’s season-ending injury occurred 10 games into the season. Burrow’s rookie season ended with a knee injury that was sustained during a loss to Washington. 

“Just going to treat it like anything else,” Burrow said a day after sustaining his latest injury, via The Athletic. “You analyze the situation. You go through the process of what it’s going to take to get back and you go and do it. That’s all you can do.”

So far, Burrow’s career has been defined by immense success but also injuries. When healthy, Burrow has proven to be one of the NFL’s best players. He nearly led the Bengals to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in 2021 and followed that up with a MVP-caliber season in 2022. The success of him and the Bengals over that span led to Burrow becoming the NFL’s highest-paid player before the start of this season. 

Along with missing the final six games of his rookie season, Burrow underwent surgery for a ruptured appendix in late July. The surgery undoubtedly hindered Burrow at the start of the 2022 season, as the Bengals stumbled to an 0-2 start before rebounding to make a return trip to the AFC Championship Game. 

This summer, Burrow sustained a calf injury on a non-contact drill during the first day of training camp. The injury — which sidelined Burrow for a month — contributed to another slow start for the Bengals, who were 1-3 before winning four straight games. 

But the team’s Week 10 loss to Houston was the start of another downward spiral for the Bengals, who would lose Burrow for the season four days later. This past Sunday, Burrow watched in street clothes as Cincinnati dropped its third straight game to fall to 5-6. 

“I don’t know,” star wideout Ja’Marr Chase said following Sunday’s game when asked if it felt like the season was slipping away. “It’s my first time feeling like this, so I really don’t know how it’s going to go.”