Joe Burrow: What is expected After an unpleasant Wrist Injury for Bengals

The expectation is that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will be cleared for full contact in May.

“I think middle of May is when I am expecting to kind of be cleared for full contact and everything,” Burrow told ESPN’s Ben Baby on Sunday. “Over the next month [to] month and a half, we’ll kind of decide all those things.”

The 27-year-old suffered a torn ligament in the wrist on his throwing hand against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11, ending his 2023 season and requiring surgery.

While Burrow has led the Bengals on multiple playoff runs when healthy, injuries have started to pile up during his first four years in the NFL. His rookie season was cut short after 10 games because of a torn ACL and MCL, while he was hobbled throughout the start of his 2023 campaign due to a calf strain that forced him to miss training camp.

He also suffered a sprained MCL during the Bengals’ Super Bowl appearance in 2022, although surgery was not required.

Burrow was seen on the sidelines wearing a sling throughout the final few weeks of Cincinnati’s 2023 season, although he’s been making steady progress during the offseason.

“I can lift basically normally now, which I’m excited about,” Burrow said, via Baby. “So the next two months, I’ll basically be just doing what I’ve done for the last couple of years. Just the 12 weeks of extra work in the rearview.”

The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft has led Cincinnati to a good amount of success to this point. After the aforementioned Super Bowl, the Bengals followed it up with an appearance in the AFC Championship game.

Burrow ended his shortened 2023 season with 2,309 yards in 10 games, throwing 15 touchdowns compared to six interceptions while completing 66.8 percent of his passes. If he’s able to return before the beginning of training camp in the summer, he could avoid another slow start to the season and help Cincinnati return to the playoffs.