Orthopedic Surgeon Claims Joe Burrow’s Wrist Injury Changed His NFL Career Forever

Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending injury in November 2023, and the Bengals passed the buck to Jake Browning, who also handled the team phenomenally. However, the Bengals weren’t in the spotlight for long, as they were eliminated from the playoffs after a close 9-8 season.

In September last year, Burrow signed a substantial five-year $275 million deal with the Bengals, and now, his future with the team looks unstable because of his injury. Orthopedic surgeon Jesse Morse shed light on Burrow’s injury and concluded that the quarterback we might witness in the upcoming season would be far removed from the Burrow we know.

Reasons why Joe Burrow might not fully recover

For starters, Burrow’s injury is unique, and no QB has had this kind of wrist injury in recent memory, per Morse. According to Morse, it was speculated before that Burrow had a TFCC complex tear, but he had a scapholunate ligament complex tear, which is way worse than TFCC.

Per the doctor, the tear caused him to have poor blood supply in the wrist, and therefore, it was necessary to resort to treatment. However, the surgeon sought a second opinion from his colleague. He said, “It’s a bad injury to have, invariably always lead to some instability over time and arthritis at an earlier age. 80% of normal strength and range of motion is common. Hard to do ‘dart thrower’s motion,’ which is important for snapping the wrist in the follow-through when throwing.”

Morse’s colleague also believes that this injury has caused permanent damage to Burrow but thinks that the QB should be cleared for practicing and making throws by mid-May. Some X-rays and diagrams embedded in the post help us understand the problem better.

When asked whether this injury permanently changed Burrow’s career, Morse’s colleague replied, “Yes, for sure. For context, he’s the only pro QB I’ve heard of with this, so it’s hard to gauge.”

Burrow’s injury is just the tip of the iceberg when we observe the Cincinnati Bengals under a lens.

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Have the Bengals been hiding Burrow’s injury?

An article from CBS pointed out something interesting. Burrow’s injury came mid-game against the Baltimore Ravens in November. CBS reported Burrow had an injury before the game because he was seen with his right hand and wrist wrapped. Despite this, the Bengals didn’t put Burrow on the injury list and deleted the video of Burrow arriving in Baltimore from all their social media platforms.

The article also pointed out two reasons a team should report an injury — mainly to keep the NFL apprised and the bettors in the loop so that they won’t put all their eggs in one basket and know that the player will not perform well. The Bengals hid the fact from the NFL and the fans. Betting is a massive part of the sport, and fans actively place bets on platforms like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars Sportsbook, which are also NFL sponsors to some capacity.

Amidst this, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor denied any knowledge of Burrow’s injury before the game. When asked about it, the HC said, “Not that I’m aware of,” and added, “That was the first I saw anything about it,” about the injury in the game.

Do you think the Bengals tried to hide that Burrow was suffering? Will he return with no problems this year? Let us know what you feel.

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