Joe Burrow says his wrist feels good, Bengals will continue to be smart with it
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been back on the practice field over the last two days during Phase II of the team's offseason program. With Burrow's 2023 cut short due to season-ending wrist surgery, the quarterback said on Tuesday that his rehab has been a positive experience.
"I’ve felt good the last two days," Burrow said in a Tuesday press conference. "I don’t ever really know how it’s going to feel until I wake up the next morning, but I’ve been encouraged by the last couple of days, for sure."
Burrow said he believes he's fully cleared for everything but contact at this point, which is fine since the season doesn't begin for months. While Burrow has been able to lift and workout for a while, he began throwing again at the beginning of last month. The quarterback noted he's still a little rusty, but is making progress.
"This was a difficult injury. It’s been a tough several months, but physically, it's not the worst injury that I've had," Burrow said. "I’ve been through much, much tougher things physically. So that’s been a positive. I've been able to really lift and continue my offseason program kind of the way that it always has been. By the time that came around, I was able to lift and do everything that I needed to in the weight room and conditioning-wise. So, physically and conditioning-wise, I feel really good."
Burrow noted there are still times when he feels pain in his wrist, though he elected to keep those exact instances to himself.
"That’s something that you just have to battle through if you want to come back from injuries like these," Burrow said. "This isn’t a minor injury by any means. So, I’ve been through it with my knee. I know the pain that is involved in processes like these. I’ve been through it before and we’re kind of toward the end of this now. But we’re going to continue to improve throughout the offseason.
"The wrist has good days and bad days, just like the knee did. We’re still pretty early — we've still got a ways until the season, so we’re going to make sure that we give it the breaks that it needs. We’re going to be smart about it. But on the days that I’m feeling good, I’m going to go."
Entering his fifth season, Burrow still hasn't had a true "normal" training camp since he entered the league in 2020. If things continue to progress well with his wrist, he should have the chance for one starting in late July.
