After tearing a ligament in his right wrist in a 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Thursday night, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will sit out the remainder of the 2023 NFL season. The loss of the league’s highest-paid player effectively sidelines any hope the Bengals might have had for another shot at a deep playoff run, and leaves a few TV networks scrambling to make some changes in their late-season broadcast schedules.
Burrow appeared to sustain the injury after connecting with Joe Mixon on a short touchdown pass late in the second quarter. After returning from the medical tent, Burrow couldn’t get a proper grip on the ball as he attempted a practice toss on the sidelines. He left the game shortly thereafter; in a press scrum held earlier Friday afternoon, Burrow said he’d “just felt a pop in the middle of the throw.”
More from Sportico.com
While Burrow said the Bengals would “keep fighting, get wins [and] make the playoffs” in his absence, the sudden end to his season is the worst-case scenario for a team that won the AFC Championship just two years ago. Despite spending much of his night fleeing from the Ravens’ pass rush, QB Jake Browning managed to keep his head about him, connecting on eight of 14 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. He also gained 40 yards on the ground on four carries.
If Browning exemplified the NFL’s next-man-up mentality, the loss of Burrow makes the Bengals a tough late-season draw for the league’s TV partners. Thanks to a new set of flexible scheduling rules that kicked in ahead of this year’s campaign, ESPN/ABC should be able to swap out the slated Bengals-Jaguars game on Dec. 4, pending NFL approval. (The revised procedures allow for changes to be made in the Monday Night Football schedule in Weeks 12-17, an option that may be used “at the NFL’s discretion.”)
Things get a bit more complicated in late December, with NBC set to air an afternoon Week 16 Bengals-Steelers scrum on Saturday the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/burrow-bummer-poses-season-quandary-235100120.html
Author : Sportico
Publish date : 2023-11-17 23:51:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
