Sportsnaut
The Cincinnati Bengals‘ season took a turn for the worse in Week 2 when Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury requiring surgery. Burrow’s announced injury recovery timetable was described as a potential three-month absence.
He suffered the injury on Sept. 14, which put him on track to return sometime in December. But now that may no longer be the case.
Apparently, Burrow spoke with Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer last week, where he said he’s returning “way sooner than expected” with a timeline of “Thanksgiving-ish.”
On Monday, the Bengals activated Burrow’s 21-day practice window, allowing him to return to the field with his teammates. He now has three weeks to get back up to full speed before the Bengals have to decide whether they will activate their franchise QB or shut him down for the rest of the season.
9️⃣ pic.twitter.com/db7yUnHLO7
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 10, 2025
While they have a 21-day window, Burrow can be activated to the roster at any time, meaning he could feasibly return to the starting lineup at any point in the next three weeks. But it won’t happen in time for their Week 11 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed as much on Monday.
“We’re not looking at him playing Sunday, no,” Taylor said. “We’ll start with this week. He’s got the 21-day window that we’ve activated. The timeline [to play] will be beyond this week.”
Thus, the 3-6 Bengals will have to hope Joe Flacco can lead the team to victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive until Burrow returns, as the original plan called for.
Related: NFL Power Rankings 2025: Week-by-Week NFL Evaluations of All 32 Teams
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