Bengals QB Joe Burrow gives timeline for his return

Injuries limited Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to just 10 games during the 2023 NFL season and also brought it to a premature end. It is expected that he will be ready for the start of the 2024 season and now he has a timeline for when he will be fully cleared to return for contact.

Burrow told ESPN this weekend that he expects to be fully cleared for contact and throwing by the start of the team's offseason activities in mid-May.

He has started throwing small medicine balls and is working his way up to footballs.

Burrow's season came to an end in November when he suffered a torn wrist ligament on his throwing hand. 

That came after he was limited earlier in the season by a training camp calf injury that did not fully begin to heal until several weeks into the campaign. That injury clearly limited his productivity over the first two months of the season and played a role in the Bengals' slow start. 

Backup Jake Browning took over in Burrow's absence and led the Bengals to a 4-3 record, exceeding expectations along the way. The three losses during Browning's starts were to playoff teams in the Pittsburgh Steelers (twice) and Kansas City Chiefs. 

As promising as Browning's play was, the Bengals have to be ecstatic about the possibility of getting a fully healthy Burrow back with a fresh start. He is one of the NFL's best quarterbacks and helps lift them to the status of a legitimate Super Bowl contender. 

The Bengals still have some work to do in improving their defense and offensive line to help protect Burrow, but a franchise quarterback masks a lot of flaws. 

The Bengals were 5-2 in the seven games leading up to Burrow's wrist injury, when he was playing his best football of the season.