The Bengals have expressed that they’ll take some precautions with quarterback Joe Burrow as he returns from a season-ending wrist injury, and the team will put that into practice tomorrow.
Head coach Zac Taylor said after Thursday’s practice that Burrow will get a pre-planned day off from throwing on Friday.
“I wanted to not say that specifically until right now at this moment, but as you all can see, he’s been great the last two days,” Taylor said in his press conference, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “So, tomorrow is a pre-planned [day off]. He and I talked about that a week ago. He didn’t bring it up, I brought it up, that we were going to do that — just to be proactive with these couple of three-day stretches. We’ll see where we’re at next week. Again, that’ll be my decision. But I think he’s looked great so far and has felt really good, too.”
Multiple reporters on the Bengals beat have noted that Burrow has looked sharp over the last two days, despite not having top receiver Ja’Marr Chase participating with him.
“I’m always liking what I’m seeing with him,” Taylor said of Burrow, adding the quarterback has displayed great urgency. “Just, again, every year the ownership evolves with him in the offense. I wouldn’t say that it gets better or worse — it continues to evolve where he can see the little details, he gets to really master and help guys along. And I think that’s a big part of the quarterback’s job, is helping these young guys along, whether it’s [rookie offensive tackle] Amarius [Mims], whether it’s the receivers, new tight ends, Zack Moss — new players, he’s got to create chemistry and communication with those guys as quickly as possibly so he’s got confidence in them.”
After Burrow suffered a calf injury early on in training camp last year, the club would surely like to keep the quarterback healthy for the Week 1 matchup with New England.