Cincinnati Bengals Taking Precautions with Former LSU QB Joe Burrow Knee In OTA’s

Joe Burrow is bad at being patient. As an extremely competitive person, the former LSU quarterback always wants to focus on everything he does. Therefore, during his rookie season, he had moments of impatience while recovering from a torn ACL.

But now that he’s made the final third of his recovery he can throw, train, take the time to build that connection with his offensive weapons as he strengthens his knee for the first goal of the season this week. With the Cincinnati Bengals in OTAs now, the team is conservative about how much Burrow is doing.

He won’t be released to contact for another eight or nine weeks, but he will run and throw with an empty pocket to get back into that rhythm. Burrow wears a knee brace and the Bengals don’t allow anyone to stand within 10 feet of him, according to trainer Zac Taylor.

“Every time you see a ball rolling back there, or when someone is within 10 feet, I used to yell at them to get away,” said Taylor. “It’s probably overly cautious, but that’s how we’re going to start this thing. He’s just taking snapshots of an empty space. “

Again, part of the precaution is to protect Burrow from himself, as the quarterback stated in his sophomore year that his knee is 85% healthy. That last 15% takes patience and how it feels every day is still a mystery. He’ll wake up a few days and it feels great, but other days when it’s a bit sore and stiff.

“I’m a guy who likes to push the envelope. Work hard and go way beyond that, ”said Burrow. “I couldn’t do that with my knee. Just do what the doctors tell me and don’t do anything too fast. Be careful. We’re out of the hardest part. Now the fun part begins.

“I still have to be patient. Can’t push too hard. At this point it still feels like this, there are still good days and bad days. One day it still hurts so you’re going to take it a little easy and one day it feels really good and you are going to push it really hard. But we have a good plan. I have a good team around me that will help me get back. “