Recently, the Cincinnati Bengals have been under investigation by the NFL regarding the compliance of the team’s injury report policy when quarterback Joe Burrow suffered his season-ending wrist injury during a Thursday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow was seen in a video that when viral just before the game wearing what looked like a soft cast on his wrist that was injured, which caused the investigation after he injured the same wrist in the game. Now, the league has finally reached a verdict on its investigation of the Bengals.
It has been determined that the team did not violate any policies regarding their injury report, meaning Burrow’s season-ending injury was completely unrelated to the “cast” that he was seen wearing. Burrow told reporters that he wore it to reduce the swelling of a completely unrelated injury to reduce the swelling on the team’s plane ride.
This comes after Cincinnati was accused of not listing the star quarterback on the injury report when they should have to prevent the gruesome injury from occurring. Many were skeptical before the game, and once Burrow suffered the injury to the same area of interest, fans, and analysts speculated that the team violated the league’s injury report policy, which led to the investigation.
Burrow will miss the remainder of the 2023 season, which will mean the Bengals will have backup quarterback Jake Browning under center. Browning has performed well so far and seems to be poised while under pressure, but the absence of Burrow will likely impact the playoff chances for the team as the regular season begins to come to an end.
Cincinnati is currently 6-6 and in last place in the highly competitive AFC North division. While they are in last place in their division, their playoff chances remain very alive as they are still right in the mix of a wild card spot. They will face the Indianapolis Colts this week which could tie them for third place and possibly jump them into a wild card spot for the time being.
