National Football League

Bengals' Joe Burrow laughs off water bottle video, downplays wrist concerns

Published Sep. 12, 2024 12:47 p.m. ET

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Joe Burrow's recovering wrist caused some concern following the Cincinnati Bengals' upset loss to the New England Patriots, but Joe Cool doesn't seem concerned.

The Bengals quarterback, who threw for only 164 yards in the 16-10 loss in Week 1, said his wrist is "absolutely not" impacting his throwing. 

"It feels better this week than it did last week, than it did the week before, so it's continually getting better," Burrow told reporters when asked about his wrist.

Sunday marked Burrow's first game back since he tore a ligament in the wrist of his throwing arm last November, which ended his 2023 season. After Burrow had surgery, there was some concern about the injury and how effective he could be considering the rarity of a torn Scapholunate ligament. 

Burrow was largely unable to push the ball down the field in Sunday's loss to the Patriots. In addition to the 164 passing yards, Burrow only had 5.7 yards per pass attempt and only six of his 29 passes were in the air for more than 10 yards, per ESPN. 

Of course, it should be noted that the Bengals' wide receiver corps wasn't at full strength for Sunday's game. Standout receiver Tee Higgins was out due to a hamstring injury. Ja'Marr Chase played, but he was a game-time decision entering Week 1 after he didn't practice for much of training camp due to an ongoing contract dispute. 

Still, there were moments during Sunday's game that led some to believe that Burrow's wrist isn't 100 percent. A particular one came in the fourth quarter, when CBS' broadcast of the game showed Burrow drinking out of a water bottle in a bit of an unusual way. 

The clip made the rounds on social media in the days following the Bengals' loss, but Burrow wasn't sure why it was a big deal. 

"What did I do?" Burrow initially said when asked about the clip. 

"I picked it up weird?" Burrow said after a reporter clarified what the clip was about. "I don't know, I drank water. I can't say I've seen that or know what anybody's talking about."

Beyond the water drinking clip, CBS's broadcast also showed a few clips of Burrow moving the wrist around and grabbing it. 

Burrow insisted, though, that his wrist wasn't bothering him, saying that the movement was required as part of the injury recovery.

"I'm doing that all the time," Burrow said. "When you come back from injury, you're always trying to keep the joint loose. That's part of ligament injuries. If you don't move it, you're gonna lose it.

"I'm always moving it around, keeping it loose, keeping my mobility the way it's supposed to be. It's gonna continue to happen. I do it at home. I do it here. I do it all the time."

Regardless of how healthy Burrow's wrist is, the Bengals face the possibility of starting the season 0-2. They take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. While Burrow is 3-1 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, each of four games was decided by one score. 

When asked about the team's slow start, Burrow focused on the positive. 

"It's a luxury right now to be criticized by all you guys about how we played on Sunday, because I was sitting in the wings for seven weeks last year," Burrow said. "So I'm just excited to be out there."

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