The Cincinnati Bengals will be without quarterback Joe Burrow for the rest of the season after it was reported that he will need season-ending wrist surgery for the injury he suffered in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.
With Burrow playing as well as he has been, it was tough for teammates to grapple with the fact that they had lost such a big difference-maker. Before the team knew this would be a season-ending injury, they reacted after the game to what they hoped at the time was just a sprain.
“I didn’t know at all,” Joe Mixon said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “They were saying, ‘Where’s Joe?’ when we went out there before the end of the half and, sure enough, he wasn’t out there and after that it was what it was.
“When he went out, people were feeling a certain type of way, especially him because he’s such a competitor. But everyone still stuck in there and did what we could to fight.”
Mixon said he addressed the team after the game to try to keep spirits up.
“I’m a leader in this locker room and a captain for a reason. I’m here to do whatever I can to keep this ship here going and keep everybody together. I’m going to do my best, you know, do whatever I can, make that happen and build on this performance,” Mixon said. “I don’t know what direction that we’re going, but when it comes down to it, I mean, everybody, we did some good things today.”
Immediately after the game, Zac Taylor’s message was that the Bengals weren’t going to let the loss to the Ravens define them, and they would keep fighting the rest of the way, which they will now have to do with Jake Browning under center. He said the team wasn’t deflated after losing Burrow.
“Obviously when you lose your starting quarterback, it’s disappointing,” Taylor said. “That’s tough, but I’ve really felt like our guys knew that we were still in the game and kept fighting. Again, it just didn’t go our way. We didn’t put enough points on the board and didn’t find enough ways to keep points off the board.”
Browning said he was prepared to get onto the field because this is something he has to be prepared for every single game as the backup.
“Everyone is hoping that everyone stays healthy, but it is kind of my job to say, ‘Alright, what if (Burrow) gets hurt?’” Browning said after the loss. “I have to prepare like he is going to get hurt. So, for me, I think I kind of ran through that scenario. Before every game, I kind of think through that scenario, so when it does happen, it is not the first time it is all happening in my head.”
Boyd was disappointed in losing Burrow, but he said the team is prepared to move forward and he has confidence in Browning.
“It hurts a lot. He’s our best player,” Boyd said. “But we have to move forward with Jake. It’s a tough loss, a crucial loss. That’s the league. Backups win games all over the place … I’m sure we’ll adjust and make changes based on who’s playing and not playing.”
