Bengals QB Joe Burrow will be out for 'several weeks' with strained calf

CINCINNATI — Bengals QB Joe Burrow will be out for several weeks with a strained calf, head coach Zac Taylor said Friday after training camp practice.

Burrow was carted off the field Thursday afternoon after a noncontact injury.

When asked about whether Burrow would be ready for the season, Taylor joked about Burrow's cursed preseasons thus far.

"Joe got more days this July than he;s ever had in his NFL career, so I feel really good about the progress he's made," Taylor said.

Taylor said Burrow was around camp on Friday, despite not practicing, and that he is taking the injury "in stride."

Video captured by WCPO shows Burrow hopping on one leg after an apparent injury while scrambling during 11-on-11. He drops to the ground, holding his right leg.

While leaving on the cart, Burrow could be seen giving a "thumbs up" to someone. ESPN NFL reporter Dianna Russini tweeted that sources with the Bengals confirmed Burrow is dealing with a strained calf.

Friday morning the Bengals said "Joey B will be back!"

They poked fun at the incident writing on Instagram and Twitter, "please stop calling and offering us your calf muscles... it doesn't work like that."

Burrow already had a sleeve on his leg during practice when he was hurt, but Taylor said he was feeling good throughout the day.

"This is football — guys go down with an injury that maybe is a (day-to-day) thing, who knows... there's a lot of guys who had soreness today that had reps cut down a little bit so that's just part of playing football and training camp," Taylor said.

When asked if the message was to not panic, Taylor said, "Sure."

Fans waiting outside the practice saw Burrow being carted to the locker room, hearing someone say over a walkie-talkie that the 26-year-old needed medical attention.

Receiver Ja'Marr Chase said the two LSU alums exchanged a look after Burrow went down, saying he believes his QB will be fine.

"He's a strong guy — said OK, he's fine, and that was it," Chase said.

Burrow recently told reporters he was excited about where the team is as training camp starts. While it may be his fourth year in the NFL, 2023 marked Burrow's first "normal" training camp after COVID-19, an injury and an emergency appendectomy impacted previous seasons. At least until Thursday.

"I feel great," he said Wednesday. "This time last year I was sitting in a hospital bed a couple of days post-surgery, so it's good to be out there with the guys."

As for the quarterback situation in training camp, Taylor said he would rotate backup quarterbacks Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian in the coming days with the team's starters, noting that they are going to get a lot more reps than they otherwise would have with the first team.

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