Joe Burrow practices fully: Could Bengals QB make return in Week 12?

CINCINNATI — For the first time in more than two months, Joe Burrow was a full participant at practice for the Cincinnati Bengals. The team’s star quarterback actually returned to practice last week, but he was a limited participant in each session. The fact that he’s now fully able to participate in practice means that he’s just taken one giant step closer to a possible return. 

One thing Burrow wasn’t able to do last week was participate in 11-on-11 drills, but he did that on Wednesday. It’s still unclear when Burrow will be able to return to game action, but Bengals coach Zac Taylor did add some intrigue to the situation during his press conference on Wednesday. The Bengals’ current starting QB, Joe Flacco, is dealing with a shoulder injury and Taylor gave an interesting answer when he was asked if Flacco would be the starter on Sunday against the New England Patriots. 

“We’ll keep working through it and see how we go through the week,” Taylor said. 

Flacco was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice due to the shoulder injury, but that’s not anything new. Since suffering the injury in Week 8, the Bengals have basically been giving Flacco each Wednesday off. Taylor was asked if there was any scenario where Burrow might play against the Patriots, and once again, he wasn’t willing to offer a definitive answer. 

“Until we get through some practices, there’s no reason for me to even speculate on that,” Taylor said. 

With Flacco sitting out of practice on Wednesday, that gave Burrow a chance to get some reps with the first team. 

“I think you can certainly get a lot of work in with Joe Burrow today because Joe Flacco isn’t practicing because the plan has been get [Burrow] into 11 on 11, so it works well,” Taylor said. 

Before Wednesday, Burrow hadn’t fully participated in a Bengals practice since Sept. 12, and then, just two days later, he suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury in a 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Burrow was placed on injured reserve shortly after that and that’s where he’s been ever since. The Bengals activated his 21-day practice window on Nov. 10 and they now have until Dec. 1 to decide whether to move him to the active roster. Based on the fact that he’s now fully practicing, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before they activate him. Burrow has missed a total of eight games so far and the Bengals have gone 1-7 in his absence. 

Will Burrow actually play on Sunday? 

This is now the big question and although we don’t have a definitive answer from Taylor, the guess here would be that he doesn’t play this week against the Patriots. If the Bengals were to play him on Sunday against the Patriots, that would mean Burrow would have to play two games in five days — the Bengals play the Ravens on Thanksgiving in Week 13 — and it’s highly unlikely that they would ask him to do that. Basically, although the door is apparently open for him to play this week, it would be a total surprise if he did. 

The more likely target for a Burrow return is Thanksgiving. Burrow has only spoken with the media once since his injury and that came back on Nov. 10. During that interview, the Bengals QB gave a one-word answer when asked how meaningful it would be for him to return against the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. 

“Very,” Burrow said. 

Burrow has been targeting a Thanksgiving return and now, that seems even more likely. If that doesn’t happen it could also be pushed to Week 14. 

CBS Sports sideline reporter Melanie Collins talked to the Bengals on Sunday morning and was given two possible dates. “I was told by the Bengals this morning that Week 13 against the Ravens is a possibility, as is Week 14 against the Bills. But as of now, no definitive return date for Joe Burrow,” Collins said during the Bengals’ 34-12 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. 

Of course, even if he’s healthy enough to play, the Bengals need to figure out if it even makes sense to put him back on the field. CBSSports.com NFL writer Tyler Sullivan doesn’t think the Bengals should bring Burrow back under any circumstance this year due to the fact that their season is already lost (You can read his full reasoning here). The season would go from bad to worse if Burrow returned only to get injured again. 

Back on Nov. 10, Burrow was actually asked if the team’s record would factor into his decision to possibly return and he mostly sidestepped the question. 

“We’ll see how these next couple of weeks go,” Burrow said. “We’ll see how it feels. We’ll make a decision when the time comes.”

If Burrow wants to play, it’s hard to imagine the Bengals stopping him, especially if he’s fully cleared and 100% healthy. And now that he’s back at practice, it only seems like a matter of time before he’s back on the field and don’t be surprised if he’s on your television Thanksgiving night.