Dr. Brandon Bowers Discusses Joe Burrow's Calf Injury, Three Calf Strain Grades

Cincinnati fans are waiting on pins and needles for a firm Burrow injury timeline.

CINCINNATI — James Rapien interviewed Dr. Brandon Bowers to break down Joe Burrow's calf strain on Cincinnati Bengals Talk on Friday.

The physical therapist at Athletico offered a key thing he noticed that should give Bengals fans some relief: flexing of the right foot.

"There's one video that we can see," Bowers said. "That's when he flexes his foot downward. You kind of see him move his foot up and down. And if it was an Achilles tendon issue, or if that thing was torn clean through he wouldn't have been able to flex his foot downward like he did. So that gave me a little bit of pause early on, thinking that this is more than just the calf and was able to steer me away from the worst-case scenario."

The Bengals preached a tone of relaxation on Friday morning, as the team hopes for a Grade 1 or Grade 2 strain. 

Grade 3 requiring surgery would likely mean the end of Burrow's 2023 season before it begins.

"It's a long recovery," Bowers said. "I mean, now there are anomalies and exceptions to the rules with these things. I think back to Adrian Peterson years ago, he came back from an ACL in four months, which is a deviation from the norm. So there's certainly an opportunity for that, but if we look at what normally happens, this would be a season-ender."

Rapien reaffirmed that, from what he's heard, the Bengals don't think it would be that severe. A timeline for his return is murky though, as we await official word from the team.

"They'll reevaluate him each day, each week, as we get closer to Week One in that matchup with the Browns and see where things go," Bowers concluded. "From a typical progression standpoint, though, James, I think it's very realistic that he's back Week One. But again, you've got a very talented group, a very talented team with division and Super Bowl aspirations. And they're not going to do anything to jeopardize him here early in the season."

Check out the full conversation below.

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