CINCINNATI — Bengals fans said they are devastated Joe Burrow is out for the rest of the season, feeling like their Super Bowl dreams might be slipping away.
"Seems like the season might be coming to an end on this one," fan Donavon Wilson said. "Hopefully, we can pull something out of the hat."
The news of Burrow's injury — and the severity of the injury — spread fast.
"Depressed, down, down, yeah, it’s not a good feeling," said Billy Watson, owner of Kitty’s Sports Grill.
It was a gut punch to fans like Jamel Nelson, a lifelong Bengals fan who just wants the best for the team's star player.
"I’m actually hurt," Nelson said. "There’s been a lot going on with this quarterback since he’s been with us. I hate that he’s going through this and I hope he can bounce back next year and do the best that he can."
Nelson watched Thursday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens. He knew it wasn’t good when Burrow didn't return after halftime.
“I thought it was over, like, I mean I believe in Jake Browning, I hope he can do the best he can, but not a lot of experience with the quarterback, so it’s hard to really even know what’s going to happen this year," he said.
He said he feels like the Bengals had something going with two big wins against two great teams.
"I mean we just beat the 49ers, the Bills, we had the momentum going just to go through this is just like, wow, c’mon when can we get a break? When can we break through this curse it just seems like we have with quarterbacks?” he said.
Watson was optimistic Burrow would be back for the next game.
"Earlier today, I’m thinking OK it’s just a little sprain. He’s got a couple extra days to heal because it was a Thursday night game instead of Sunday, so he’ll be OK to play next week," he said.
But now, a season-ending injury makes things much harder.
"It’s not impossible," Watson said. "Is it harder? Absolutely."
Jessie Lung is also staying positive.
"It’s disappointing, you know, we all love to see Joe Burrow play — he’s smart, he’s intelligent, he’s a great quarterback," Lung said. "It’s disappointing, but he’ll be back before we know it."
Lung said being a Cincinnati sports fan has its challenges.
"Born and raised in Cincinnati, you just never know about Cincinnati sports, but I try to be positive and see the positive in all sports and in all Cincinnati things,” she said.
Even though the Bengals are down, the fans said they’ll be here to pick them back up.
"We got a lot of great players on that team, so they’re not going to give up, so their hearts are in it. So, I’m not going to give up either," said Watson.
