The Cincinnati Bengals' 2025 campaign took a turn for the worse in Week 2 after quarterback Joe Burrow exited the game with an injury.
It was later revealed that Burrow had a serious case of turf toe. More specifically, it was a Grade 3 issue that required surgery and a lengthy absence from the field.
We've seen this story all too often during Burrow's career. The Bengals fail to do enough to protect him and it ends up costing Cincinnati its best player.
Now, the question is: when will Burrow be back?
And, will it be too late for the Bengals if he does return?
While we can't answer the second question right now, we can give a tentative answer for the first. Here's what we have.
How long is Joe Burrow out?
The initial expectation is that Burrow is going to miss "at least three months," which comes from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
However, FOX Sports' Jay Glazer is skeptical of that timeline and believes it could be longer than that.
“They’re saying three months, I don’t see three months being an actual timeline,” he said. “I think more so [Burrow has] a chance [to return] if they make the playoffs, but only because it’s Joe Burrow. Somebody else, I’d say no. But he has that Mamba Mentality, maybe yes. It’s such a difficult injury to return from.”
Let's keep things positive and go by Rapoport's timeline.
Three months from Burrow's surgery is Dec. 19, which means he could be back by Week 16 (Dec. 21), at the earliest.
But for the Bengals to bring Burrow back in the regular season, the team will have to be in contention for the playoffs.
After what we've seen from Jake Browning over the last two weeks, that's going to be a tall order for Cincinnati.
MORE NFL NEWS
- Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Booker get positive injury updates
- Will Joe Burrow be back in 2025? Latest injury update on Bengals QB
- Boise State trolls UNLV after Ashton Jeanty scores touchdown
- Aaron Rodgers has very different approach to the tush push
- Kevin Stefanski not ruling out Browns starting QB change