ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will have to undergo surgery to fix a turf toe injury that he suffered in Week 2. The recovery timeline of the surgery means that Burrow is doubtful to play football over the next three months.
The Green Bay Packers will face off against the Bengals in Week 6, following the Packers’ Week 5 bye. At this point, the favorite to start that game at quarterback for Cincinnati is Jake Browning, who beat the Jacksonville Jaguars
this weekend but did so with just a 69.9 passer rating performance that included three interceptions. For his NFL career, Browning, a 29-year-old who went undrafted in 2019, has 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Despite the poor numbers at quarterback, the Bengals have had success as a team with Browning under center, going 4-3 in his starts during the 2023 season, not including what he just did against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2024, Browning didn’t throw a single pass.
Per Schefter, Cincinnati is currently looking at the free-agent quarterback market, too. The Bengals’ current practice squad quarterback is Brett Rypien, another undrafted player from the 2019 class who is on his seventh NFL franchise. He has a career passer rating of 59.9 and has thrown four touchdowns to nine interceptions. Like Browning, he also didn’t throw a pass in the 2024 season.
It’s mid-September, so the quarterback market is hardly robust. Former third-round pick Desmond Ridder spent camp with the Bengals, so maybe that’s another potential option for the Packers to face in Week 6. Either way, this is a pretty brutal pill to swallow for Cincinnati.
