(Photo: The Ringer)
For years, the Cincinnati Bengals had been looking for that franchise Quarterback. I still remember when they drafted Carson Palmer out of USC and he was coming into his own at one time. Along with Chad Ochocinco and T.J. Houshmanzadeh, they formed one of the best trios in the league at that time. Back in 2011, the Bengals drafted a guy named Andy Dalton out of TCU. He was average and yes, they did win some division titles during his time there, but they could never win a playoff game. 2020, Cincinnati has the number one pick and they filled that void right away by drafting Joe Burrow out of LSU who had just won the Heisman Trophy and a National Title just months before. On Thursday against the Ravens, I saw Joe land awkwardly on his wrist and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, the news revealed that it’s a torn ligament in his wrist and he will miss the rest of the 2023 season.
He’s become elite in a short period of time. After Patrick Mahomes of course, this is the guy I’d sign if he were a free agent. I said this when he was college and I’ve found myself saying the same thing since he’s become an NFL pro, nothing phases this guy and in every single situation, he’s always calm, collected and most importantly, cool which has earned him the nickname “Joe Cool” because of his calm, yet relaxed demeanor. Joe has the mentality of a ten year Quarterback and I say that because he’s so laser focused on what’s in front of him and after one bad play, he has the ability to erase what just happened and turns the next page to focus on the next play at hand. You just don’t see that from many younger Quarterbacks today and Joe is one of the rare ones in our league that display that. I feel many people don’t discuss his mental toughness enough and I will elaborate. I’ve seen Joe take some tough hits in the pocket since coming to Cincinnati and he’s been drilled. You can knock him down and run into him, but it’s still that forward mentality that keeps him moving and nothing changes. I’ve always said his mobility was extremely underrated as Joe can move within the pocket which is important for a Quarterback, but when the play breaks down, he’s able to get those yards himself. It’s how he’s able to stay on his feet to extend the play. If you give him those running lanes, he will take advantage of them. When it comes to throwing the football, Joe is one of the best in our league today as he can fit the ball into tight windows and he can also make every single pass and also puts the ball only to where his receiver can get it. He’s always looking down the field to make a play and reads the entire field. He leads by example and his teammates follow him.
I’m absolutely crushed for him. He got hurt on the second day of training camp and still played through it. Joe injured his calf and earlier in the season, I kept saying he was more hurt than he was letting on and it showed because that mobility was limited and he had such a difficult time moving on his feet. Once he got healthy, he was beginning to come into his form. As I watched the game on Thursday night and I saw him trying to warm up on the sidelines, he couldn’t grip or hold onto the ball and that’s when I had a feeling it was a far worse injury than implicated. This comes at a time where the Bengals were in the midst of a competitive AFC North race and conference race. Remember, Joe tore his ACL and MCL during his rookie season and came back strong. I know he can do the same in this instance as well. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
