The Cincinnati Bengals have almost no chance of making the playoffs as they enter Week 13, but Joe Burrow is still going to return from his foot injury for Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Many fans respect the quarterback’s rationale for doing so.
Burrow has missed Cincinnati’s last nine games after he underwent surgery to address a turf toe injury. He has been cleared to return, but many have wondered why he would bother risking another injury with the Bengals all but eliminated from postseason contention.
Burrow told reporters on Tuesday that it is simply not in his nature to sit out while healthy enough to play.
“I’m not going to ever go to somebody and say, ‘Yeah, I’m healthy, but I don’t think I should play.’ That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Burrow said, via NFL.com. “I’m not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening. … Yeah, I’ve had injuries. It’s not a lot I can do about that. I worked really hard to have that not happen, but what I can do is when it does happen I can control how I’m attacking my rehab.”
The 28-year-old added that he understands the concerns but that injuries are a part of the game.
“I’m a football player, and if I get hurt, I’m going to go through the rehab process and I’m going to let everybody know when I feel like I can go out there and play,” Burrow said. “I don’t know really what else to say about that.”
The Bengals are 3-8 on the season and have lost four straight games. They are highly unlikely to make the playoffs even if they were to win out. Burrow has dealt with numerous injuries during his NFL career, which is why he has won Comeback Player of the Year twice. Still, he wants to play.
Burrow had the perfect way of announcing that he will play on Thanksgiving Day, and it sounds like the game has plenty of meaning to him regardless of the circumstances.
