Bengals’ Joe Burrow says he feels close to 100% recovered from his calf injury

Joe Burrow is healing. He’s been dealing with a lingering calf injury throughout the early portion of the season, and it has thus far had a dramatic impact on his performance. But that may not be the case for much longer. 

According to NFL on CBS’ Evan Washburn, Burrow feels he is very close to being where he was pre-injury. 

“After hanging 34 points on the Cardinals last Sunday, Burrow said this week he feels as close to 100% as he has since prior to the injury, and that was in late July,” Washburn said. “Burrow added to us that he now feels he can make the movements in and out of the pocket to extend plays, which leads to a lot of the big plays this Bengals group has been known for over the last few years.”

Last week against Arizona, Burrow completed 36 of 46 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns (each to Ja’Marr Chase), along with one interception. The 6.9 yards per attempt average was his highest of the season by more than a full yard, and his 78.3% completion rate was by far the highest of the year as well. In four previous games, Burrow had gone just 87 of 151 (57.6%) for 728 yards (4.8 YPA), two touchdowns, and two interceptions while Cincinnati limped to a 1-3 start. 

Burrow will look to build on last weekend’s performance when he and the Bengals take on the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday. 

Even last week’s game did not see him create many of the explosive plays Washburn mentioned. He had just one completion of 20 or more yards, which means he created an explosive on 2% of his dropbacks. According to TruMedia, that number was at 10.2% in 2021 and 7.9% in 2022. So, there is still room to go for Burrow to get back to his usual self. If he is able to move around and better navigate the pocket, those plays could come in short order.