Bengals Have An NFL Investigation On Their Hands Following Joe Burrow Injury Questions
As if the Cincinnati Bengals didn't have enough trouble with what the team is calling a sprained wrist for starting quarterback Joe Burrow, the club now is under NFL scrutiny for possibly failing to report a Burrow injury before Thursday night's game.
The NFL has confirmed it is starting an investigation into why the Bengals did not include Burrow on its injury reports before the game against the Ravens on Thursday.
Joe Burrow calls a play against the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Bengals Burrow Video Seemingly Outs Team
This despite the fact a club video posted to social media clearly shows Burrow wearing what appeared to be a compression glove of some kind over his right hand and wrist when the team arrived in Baltimore on Wednesday.
The Bengals posted a club arrival video on X on Wednesday night and that video unwittingly showed Burrow in the background getting off a team bus wearing the covering over his throwing hand and wrist.
Curiously, the club later took the video down.
Alas, the internet is forever.
Burrow Seen Wearing Glove On Bengals Vid
It all raised eyebrows, particularly when Burrow left the game after apparently injurying (or reinjurying?) the wrist and hand against the Ravens before leaving the game in the second quarter.
Coach Zac Taylor said after the 34-20 loss Burrow's injury "looked like" a sprained wrist which he suffered one play before he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Joe Mixon. Taylor also told reporters he was unaware if Burrow carried an injury to his hand or wrist into the game.
"That was the first I saw anything about it," Taylor said.
The Bengals will have some 'splainin' to do.
Why, they'll be asked, was Burrow wearing that glove/wrap the day before the game if he wasn't injured and on the injury report?
Why did the club take down the video if it had nothing to hide?
Was the glove in question and iPad add-on?
Was it mere coincidence Burrow suffered an injury on precisely the same hand/wrist as what he was apparently trying to protect the day before on that video?
Joe Burrow reacts after loss to Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
NFL Burrow Investigation Has Begun
This is not going to be a cursory investigation. The investigation is expected to also include league personnel reviewing photos and video. NFL personnel will also interview training staff and others. And the league can also access Burrow's medical records with the team because they are all digitized.
The NFL demands teams include all injuries and practice status into multiple public reports prior to games.
When there's a question whether a team has failed to comply with this policy, the league looks into the matter.
Joe Burrow congratulates Patrick Queen of the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Previous NFL Investigations Have Resulted In Sanctions
The league takes injury report violations seriously. Punishments include fines for the club or potentially the forfeiting of a draft pick.
The last time such an investigation brought punishment was 2019 when the NFL sanctioned the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers paid a $75,000 fine and coach Mike Tomlin paid a $25,000 fine for violating the injury report policy. That incident also involved a quarterback when Ben Roethlisberger was not included on practice reports.