Bengals QB Joe Burrow expects to be cleared from wrist injury in mid-May

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow put a timetable on recovery from a torn wrist ligament that ended his 2023 campaign after 10 games.

“I think middle of May is when I am expecting to kind of be cleared for full contact and everything,” Burrow told ESPN’s Ben Baby on Sunday. “Over the next month [to] month and a half, we’ll kind of decide all those things.”

Burrow underwent season-ending surgery on his wrist on Nov. 27 following a game against the Ravens earlier that month. He told ESPN that he’s started throwing small medicine balls as part of his routine and is aiming at Bengals OTAs to start throwing a pigskin.

“I can lift basically normally now, which I’m excited about,” Burrow said. “So the next two months, I’ll basically be just doing what I’ve done for the last couple of years. Just the 12 weeks of extra work in the rearview.”

Burrow inked a long-term contract with the Bengals last offseason that puts the star quarterback under contract through the 2029 season. The signal-caller dealt with a calf injury that contributed to Cincy’s slow start to the campaign (1-3) before the club hit a stride in October. Then the wrist injury wiped out the rest of his season, and the Bengals fell just shy of the postseason despite solid play from backup Jake Browning.

Burrow noted that after getting to the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons, he didn’t think the Bengals were built for a similar run in 2023.

“We need the guys that we draft to come in and be productive and take on the leadership roles that we’ve lost the last couple of years,” Burrow said. “And we need to bring in the right pieces this offseason too, whether it’s the draft or free agency.

“Like I said, the injuries were what they were last year, but we weren’t good enough in a lot of different places to make a Super Bowl run in my opinion.”

For Cincy to be good enough to make a Super Bowl run in 2024, first, Burrow must stay healthy.