Despite Joe Burrow’s ‘Addiction’, Bengals QB May Have Peaked Too Early Due to Injury History Per Nick Wright

Joe Burrow’s wrist injury is a unique one. So unique, that the NFL has never seen it happen before. Though people pit Joe Burrow as one of the elite QBs in the league right now, his chances of staying a favorite might be dwindling as days pass. On top of his wrist going bad, Burrow suffered a calf injury and also underwent knee surgery in 2021.

All of his struggles have boiled down to one question, whether or not the Cincinnati Bengals QB will be the same again. Nick Wright and his colleagues recently gave their take on Joe Burrow’s comeback scenarios, and sports physician Jesse Morse also dissected the QB’s injury.

Have we seen the best of Joe Burrow?

This question is what sparked the conversation between Nick Wright and his peers. A few hours earlier, Burrow appeared in a presser and affirmed, “I’m addicted to getting better.” But even though the Super Bowl contender rarely reaches peak health, his cameos remain a primary factor in the Bengals’ success. Others on the show, however, seem to think that, irrespective of the hindrances posed by injuries, his performance was already declining. Burrow’s pass completion rate, yard/pass, TD percentage, and passer rating have been diluting over the years.

“The Bengals let him go out there in the first month of the year when he couldn’t roll out when he couldn’t move around, you know what I mean?” said Wright. He added, “When you add that to the fact that he’s probably not going to have more talent around him moving forward than he did right when he came into the league, how successful he was right when he came into the league, do I think it’s in play that that second year when he led the NFL in yards per attempt, had a 108 rating, led the NFL in completion percentage and they went into the Super Bowl that that’s the best it ever gets, of course I think it’s in play.”

But leaving aside the future predictions and who will be around him, there are more immediate concerns that Burrows has to address.

Is this it for Burrow?

Wright referenced Jesse Morse’s study and pointed out that Burrow’s injury is not just unique, but it also limits his “dart thrower motion,” which is a follow-through action and is important to a QB’s form. To get more idea into Burrow’s situation, we must take a look into Morse’s analysis.

“This ligament is very important for the stability of the wrist, and since this/most ligaments have a poor blood supply it needed to be repaired,” said the physician’s post on X. It further elaborated that “It’s a bad injury to have, invariably always lead to some instability over time and arthritis at an earlier age.” The above reasoning came from Morse’s orthopedic surgeon colleague, who also assured the fans by adding, “But these guys are superhuman, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.” One thing is to note that Burrow’s career has forever changed due to this injury and the aftermath might be visible this season.

Burrow, nevertheless, has had some time to recover and will likely have gone through rigorous rehabilitation to bounce back. Be that as it may, whether that translates to the football field is yet to be seen.