Joe Burrow will take 'several weeks' to recover from calf strain, Bengals coach says

Updated Jul 28, 2023 4:33 pm ET

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters Friday that Joe Burrow will take "several weeks" to recover from a calf strain, one day after the star quarterback needed to be carted off after appearing to suffer the injury late in Thursday's training-camp practice.

Burrow did not practice Friday, with backup QBs Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian taking the snaps.

The 26-year-old franchise quarterback hobbled on one leg and then went to the ground after a scramble play during an 11-on-11 drill near the end of Thursday's practice. He rode off the field in a medical cart.

Burrow was wearing a sleeve on his right leg, eliciting questions about whether he was already dealing with an injury. 

Taylor downplayed that idea.

"I think a lot of guys after the first day have some soreness," Taylor said. "That's it."

Taylor added that a lot of their players were dealing with soreness entering Thursday.

Burrow's injury comes at a big time for the Bengals and for himself. Cincinnati is looking to get over the hump in 2023 and win a Super Bowl after losing in the AFC title game last year and in the Super Bowl the season prior. 

A lot of that was due to Burrow, who is likely the next quarterback to receive a massive contract extension. After Justin Herbert received a five-year, $262.5 million deal on Tuesday, multiple reports indicated that Burrow is expected to receive a larger deal than that one.

Burrow is still negotiating with the Bengals on that long-term contract.

The team's top draft pick in 2020 had talked Wednesday about how good he felt at the opening of camp after his first three NFL training camps were disrupted and how he hoped to play in some preseason games.

Preseason practice was truncated in Burrow’s rookie year in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, he was still rehabbing after knee surgery the previous December. On the first day of camp last year, he was stricken with appendicitis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.