The basic facts, with the application of common sense, point to an inescapable series of conclusions.
First, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had a wrist injury before Thursday night’s game.
Second, he wore a protective or supportive wrap on it while traveling to Baltimore.
Third, the Bengals posted — and then deleted — a video showing the wrap on his wrist.
Fourth, he didn’t tell the team about the injury and/or the team hid it from the injury report.
Fifth, he aggravated the injury during Thursday night’s game.
The naysayers will insist it was a brand new injury, and that the wrap was all one big coincidence. Or maybe it was some sort of a tool for manipulating his tablet.
The manner in which the Bengals handled the situation after the game does not support any and all excuses that could be made.
For starters, Burrow did not talk to reporters. At all. Only players with concussions are exempt from doing so.
He should have spoken. He had no reason not to speak. Unless he didn’t want to be grilled about the wrap on his wrist — and perhaps didn’t want to lie about it. Or, maybe even worse for the team, tell the truth about it.
Backup Jake Browning, who finished the game for Burrow, did face reporters. He said he knew nothing about a wrist wrap.
“I had no idea,” Browning said. “Everybody started asking me about this wrist thing. I had no idea why. I thought they were talking about someone else on the team.”
Coach Zac Taylor also spoke to reporters. Taylor acknowledged seeing online chatter about the wrist wrap. But he said he knew nothing about it until it showed up on social media.
“That was the first I saw anything about it,” Taylor said.
Taylor also said he had no reason to think Burrow was impaired.
“I mean, watch how he played the first half,” Taylor said. “He did everything we needed him to do.”
Until he either had a brand new injury or aggravated the existing injury.
Again, it was either a gigantic coincidence or a pre-existing injury. Given that Burrow didn’t talk to reporters, I’ll choose to conclude it wasn’t a fashion statement or a device for using one of his electronic devices while making the flight from Cincinnati to Baltimore.
The next question is whether the NFL will do anything about it. Given the current extent to which gambling and gambling money have become intertwined with football, the league definitely should. If I had to bet on that specific proposition, I’d put my money on the “nothing will happen” square.
And nothing will happen the next time. And the next. And the next. Until a major scandal regarding the worthless contents of the injury reports (and the very worthwhile inside information it creates) sparks litigation and/or prosecutions and/or regulation of the sport.
