Seven points separate the Cincinnati Bengals from an 0-10 record this season.
So no, the Bengals shouldn’t risk Joe Burrow to further injury.
Sure, onlookers can do this for any team, both directions. But the Bengals are 3-7. Their three wins have come by a combined seven points. They’re much, much closer to an 0-10 team than they are a, say, five-win team.
Again, why risk Burrow on what feels, looks and even acts (referring to Ja’Marr Chase’s spitting incident in Pittsburgh, here) like a winless club in mid-November?
RELATED: Bengals might adjust playbook for Joe Burrow without ‘full mobility’
Burrow wants to come back. Everyone on the planet even slightly familiar with his personality and pro athletes in general understands this. But the reports already say Burrow would return with limited mobility, requiring tweaks to the playbook.
The Bengals’ offensive line has quietly improved. But if the difference in production between Joe Flacco and a limited-mobility Burrow is marginal, why risk 2026, too?
There’s no reason to jeopardize the offseason and 2026 for these Bengals. The last thing they need is another Burrow injury while the organization undergoes a possible complete overhaul, including a new coaching staff if Zac Taylor gets fired.
This says nothing about the defense to this point. It’s the biggest culprit here. Of the starting 11, one could argue it has a single player above replacement level right now, DJ Turner. The unit isn’t likely to get Trey Hendrickson back anytime soon as he heads for offseason surgery. It’s on pace to be one of the worst defenses of all time, so it won’t be helping out an injured Burrow much.
Nobody, including Bengals fans, would blame the team and/or Burrow for keeping the star quarterback from the field the rest of the way. Even by the way, if that means the organization angers him with the decision by going over his head, if it gets to that point.
A shame, too. The AFC was gift-wrapped for the Bengals this year. The AFC North-leading Steelers are just 6-4. Baltimore is 5-5. If the playoffs started right now, the 5-5 Kansas City Chiefs would miss the dance.
And there are the Bengals at 3-7, nearly 0-10, in the 12th spot of a bad conference, pondering whether to bring back an injured quarterback early with metal protections in his cleat so he can mask over the top-to-bottom organizational problems in Cincinnati again.
That sound? The entire collective presence of humanity in the tri-state area saying no thanks.
RELATED: Trey Hendrickson injury could force Bengals DE into offseason surgery
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals shouldn’t risk Joe Burrow on what feels like an 0-10 team
