Joe Burrow's Wrist Clearly Not Bothering Him in First Offseason Practice Videos

Burrow is back at practicing with the Bengals looking bigger and healthier.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow return to the practice field during an offseason workout
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow return to the practice field during an offseason workout / Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY
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Joe Burrow is back on the practice field for the Cincinnati Bengals and he looks fully healthy after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery in November. On Monday and Tuesday, he was firing passes all over the field and looked unbothered by the injury.

Burrow addressed his recovery after practice and claimed he "felt great" and that it was "good to be back." The 27-year-old quarterback said he hasn't had any setbacks in the six months since surgery and that the past two days of practice have been encouraging.

"Felt good the last two days," Burrow said. "I never really know how it's going to feel when I wake up the next morning, but I was encouraged by the last couple of days for sure."

Doctors have cleared Burrow for everything but contact, and it's a fair assumption that won't happen until the preseason.

To protect himself moving forward, Burrow said he bulked up during his recovery. After a number of injuries during his young career, he added muscle while working his way back.

"We're bigger," Burrow said. "Definitely bigger. We'll see where I'm at at the end of the offseason. I feel good about where my body is at right now. I'm going to continue to get stronger and bigger throughout the offseason and just kind of play it by ear depending on how I feel." He added, "I'm really strong. Bigger than I was. We're going to continue to eat right, life and go through my routing and see where I'm at."

While his 2023 season was plagued by injury and abruptly ended in November, Burrow has developed into one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. A Pro Bowler who led the Bengals to a berth in Super Bowl LVI, the former No. 1 overall pick has lived up to that billing. In 2021, Burrow's best season, he completed 70.4% of his passes for 4,611 yards, with 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His passer rating of 108.3 was a career-high, as was his 8.9 yards per attempt average. He followed that up with an excellent season in 2022, completing 68.3% of his passes for 4,475 yards, with 35 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a career-best QBR of 60.8.

The Bengals will go as Burrow goes, so seeing him back on the field and healthy is a major boost to the franchise.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.