The Cincinnati Bengals have officially placed Joe Burrow on Injured Reserve.
The superstar quarterback needs surgery for his turf toe injury, and so IR is the move Cincy had to make from a roster decision perspective.
Without Burrow, the Bengals will have Jake Browning, Brett Rypien and the newly signed duo of Mike White and Sean Clifford as possible QBs.
Bengals fans will want to know just what it means for Burrow to go on IR, and how long until he can return.
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What does it mean that Joe Burrow was placed on IR?
The Bengals placed Burrow on IR, or Injured Reserve, to clear up a roster spot.
By putting him on IR, Burrow doesn't take up a place on the 53-man roster.
In the immediate, that will likely allow them to promote Rypien to the gameday active roster to be Browning's backup in Week 4.
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How long does Joe Burrow have to be out on IR?
A player who is placed on IR has to miss a minimum of four games. Teams can designate a player as being on IR with potential to return, which then opens a window after at least four games have passed to bring that player back.
When a player is on IR to return, the team has to announce the intent to return before the player comes back. Once that intent is announced, a player has a 21-day window to return to practice and ramp up before having to be activated to the 53-man roster.
Given Burrow could be out up to three months, this makes sense all around. The Bengals will almost certainly be missing him for more than four games, but if he can get back at some point in December, that'd be valuable, so the Bengals will eventually figure out when to start his return clock.
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