Images of the toe injury were being sent to noted foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson to be reviewed, according ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and if surgery is necessary, Burrow likely would be out for about three months.
At least two players fell on top of Burrow as Armstead grabbed his foot to bring him down for the sack. Burrow initially tried to shake it off before going down to the turf and was able to walk off the field on his own power. After being evaluated in the blue medical tent for several minutes, exited for the locker room and was nearing the tunnel leading underneath the stadium when he required the assistance of trainers.
“I wish I was more excited (about the win), but that cast a touch of gray on the day,” Bengals center Ted Karras said. “They were throwing a ton of stuff at us. I thought the first half was horrible. We just weren’t winning enough 1-on-1s.”
A turf toe injury is caused by the big toe being hyperextended past its normal range of motion, which damages the associated ligaments. The injury is classified as a sprain and occurs when an athlete pushes off a hard surface, such as artificial turf.
Burrow was originally announced to be questionable to return but never came back to the field and was ruled out late in the third quarter. He was wearing a walking boot and using crutches after the game, an upsetting sight especially for the offensive line room that struggled to protect Burrow.
The sixth-year quarterback dropped back 15 times Sunday and took hits on 33 percent of them, including a pair of sacks.
“It’s a little sickening,” left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said.
“He’s our engine,” Brown added. “It’s just who we are and what we represent. The most important guy in the building. It’s always heartbreaking when he doesn’t finish a game.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
If the initial prognosis and expected timeline for recovery are correct, that would put Burrow back around the time of the Dec. 14 game against Baltimore with four total games remaining on the schedule.
The No. 1 draft pick in 2020, Burrow has suffered two season-ending injuries during his career, including an ACL tear in his rookie season and a torn wrist ligament in 2023, which caused him to miss a combined 13 games.
Browning, who signed to the Bengals practice squad in 2021, is 4-3 as a starter, including four wins over the final six games in 2023, but he helped the Bengals to another victory Sunday when he led them down the field 92 yards for a game-winning drive over the final four minutes. He dove into the endzone for the go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left.
“We have a lot of talent,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said when asked how the team was able to overcome adversity Sunday. “We have coaches that are going to put them in the right position. So, then it’s just on other people to step up. Nobody flinched. It’s unfortunate when you lose (Burrow) because he is who he is, but at the end I’m just proud that the team found a way to win. We’ll see what his status is and we’ll go from there.”
The Bengals play at Minnesota on Sunday, which would pit Browning against the first NFL team he signed for as an undrafted college free agent in 2019. He spent two years on the practice squad there and never played a game.
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