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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterSep 11, 2024, 05:50 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow laughed, raised his eyebrows and cracked a smile about the most harrowing topic in Cincinnati.
Online sleuths wondered how his surgically repaired wrist felt after broadcast cameras captured him handling a water bottle in an unorthodox manner in the team’s Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots. Burrow was oblivious to the discourse.
“I just drank water,” Burrow said with a chuckle.
But after he was spotted flexing his wrist throughout the team’s upset defeat Sunday, Burrow maintained the wrist felt great, and it was “absolutely not” affecting his throwing.
“It feels better this week than it did last week, than it did the week before, so it’s continually getting better,” Burrow said.
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For the second straight week, Burrow was listed on the team’s injury report because of his wrist issue. He tore a ligament in Week 11 last season against the Baltimore Ravens and had surgery in November. Throughout offseason workouts and training camp, Burrow has repeatedly flexed the wrist, which was seen on the television broadcast Sunday.
Burrow downplayed the significance or that the wrist was preventing him from making downfield throws.
“That’s part of ligament injuries,” Burrow said. “If you don’t move it, you’re going to lose it, so I’m always moving it around, keeping it loose, keeping my mobility the way it’s supposed to be, so it’s going to continue to happen.”
Cincinnati, a 7.5-point favorite per ESPN BET, struggled to create big plays in a 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots, which was the biggest Week 1 upset in the NFL dating to 2018. According to ESPN Research, only six of Burrow’s 29 pass attempts were for 10 or more air yards.
On Wednesday, the former No. 1 overall pick said he didn’t do a good job of steadying his feet in the pocket and was rushed in how he processed the field.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn’t have much to offer on Burrow’s health in his weekly Wednesday news conference. Taylor simply said he “thinks he’s good” when asked about the star quarterback.
Cincinnati is looking to avoid going 0-2 for the fifth time in Taylor’s six seasons. During that span, the Bengals are a combined 1-11 in the first two weeks of the season, the worst winning percentage in the NFL, according to ESPN Research.
This week, Cincinnati faces the Kansas City Chiefs in what could be a continuation of one of the NFL’s top rivalries. The Bengals beat the AFC North team in January 2022 to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years. Kansas City returned the favor in a rematch in the AFC Championship Game the next season.
Taylor minimized the magnitude of the matchup but also called the game a tremendous opportunity for the Bengals to prove themselves on the road.
“We got the taste out of our mouth and now we get a chance to move forward,” Taylor said.
When Burrow has played against Kansas City, the Bengals have won three of the four matchups. He was out for the season when Kansas City beat Cincinnati in Week 17 last season to eliminate the Bengals from playoff contention.
Burrow said that he not only missed playing in that rivalry game against Kansas City and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes but also missed being on the field.
That’s one of the reasons why he took feedback on his performance and questions about his health with a laugh.
“It’s a luxury right now to be criticized by all you guys about how we played on Sunday, because I was sitting in the wings for seven weeks last year,” Burrow said. “So I’m just excited to be out there.”
