Joe Burrow is beyond the halfway point of his left knee recovery process.
The Cincinnati Bengals second-year quarterback participated at Tuesday’s organized team activities – the first time Burrow practiced during media availability since his rookie season ended prematurely in Week 11 of last year.
Burrow wore a helmet, an orange quarterback jersey, shorts and had a knee brace to protect his surgically repaired left knee. He didn’t take snaps under center, but the quarterback did take snaps out of shot gun and delivered passes to Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and other skill position players.
“It was good. It felt really good today. I’m optimistic,” Burrow said following Tuesday’s OTA session.
Zac Taylor and the Bengals had full attendance to start OTAs on Tuesday. Burrow, running back Joe Mixon, defensive tackle D.J. Reader, cornerback Trae Waynes and other key players that ended last year on injured reserve were all at practice in some capacity.
There was a sense of excitement on the practice field for the new-look Bengals and most of the enthusiasm centered around the 2020 No. 1 overall pick.
“It was the first time I really got to see him do that stuff, so it was really exciting for me as a coach,” Taylor said. “I know he’s been doing it a lot and he feels really comfortable with that stuff. It’s good for the spirit of the team to see him back out there. We haven’t seen him practice in a long time. That was a good sign for today.”
Tuesday was positive sign for Burrow’s main objective: Return by Week 1.
Burrow did some moderate level running and threw some short crisp passes to receivers without concern. The Bengals quarterback declared after Day 1 of OTAs that his left knee is at about 85% fully recovered.
“(My knee) is about 80 to 85% now. We had some strength tests done and all that showed about 85% compared to the right leg, so we’re on pace,” Burrow said. “We’re looking really good. Just got to keep strengthening it. There are not a lot of things that I can’t do. It’s just getting it stronger.”
Burrow echoed the same sentiments as his knee surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Ever since Burrow's Dec. 2, 2020 knee procedure, the quarterback's been adamant about returning by Week 1. However on Tuesday, he didn’t rule out being full-go by training camp. He hopes to be cleared for all football-related activities around the nine-month mark.
The prognosis for Burrow’s type of knee injury is nine to 12 months, and Burrow is six months into his left knee rehabilitation process. The season opener is Sept. 12 versus the Minnesota Vikings at Paul Brown Stadium.
“At this point, I’m doing everything. The next one is just to get cleared for football activities and contact. That will be around nine months. We’re about six months and a week right now,” Burrow said.” The next one will be… Hopefully I should be going full-go in camp. That’s my goal. Maybe a little limited but I hope not. And then after that, the next one is to be cleared to play.”
Burrow hits 25 weeks post operation this Wednesday. He’ll be nine months into his recovery process on Aug. 11. There’s still a few more hurdles in Burrow’s recovery process, but he’s certainly rounding the corner and the finish line is within sight.
“Still got to be patient. Can’t push too hard. At this point it’s still how it feels, there are still good days and bad days. It’s still sore somedays and so you will take it a little easy and somedays it feels really good and you’ll push it really hard. But we have a good plan,” Burrow said. “I have a good team around me that is helping me get back.”
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