The Cincinnati Bengals won on Sunday but appear to have done so at a sizable cost.
Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow was injured during his team’s Week 2 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Burrow went down on a sack in the second quarter at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio and suffered a toe injury after getting crushed in a pile by multiple defenders (see the video here).
After the game, which the Bengals went on to win by a 31-27 final score, a troubling update emerged on Burrow’s status. Jeremy Rauch of FOX 19 in Cincinnati reported that Burrow is believed to have suffered a turf toe injury with torn ligaments. Rauch notes that the expectation is that Burrow will miss “several weeks” as a result.
Turf toe is indeed a cause for real concern and is the same injury currently afflicting another NFL quarterback in Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy had to sit out of San Francisco’s win on Sunday over the New Orleans Saints and is expected to miss further time beyond that as well.
Meanwhile, Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning took over on Sunday after Burrow went down. While he was extremely up-and-down as a passer (going 21/32 for 241 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions), Browning did manage to lead Cincinnati on the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, culminating with a 1-yard keeper run for a touchdown.
BIG TIME BROWNING!!!!!!!
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 14, 2025
: #JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/TdlTGpFfNy
Now 2-0 on the season, the Bengals have a fairly tough schedule over the next month, playing at Minnesota, at Denver, vs. Detroit, and at Green Bay (with their bye not coming until Week 10). Cincinnati does have enough high-quality offensive weapons (e.g. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) to keep Browning afloat. But the news on Burrow, the NFL’s reigning passing yards and passing touchdowns leader, is obviously a tough pill for them to swallow so early into the season.
