Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - EMERGENCY POD: Cincinnati Bengals Star QB Joe Burrow NEEDS Surgery, Could Miss ENTIRE Season

Starting point is 00:00:00 Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow needs surgery, what it means for him, what it means for the team, and could he miss the entire 2025 season? We'll break it all down right now on Locked on Bengals. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hi again, everyone, and happy Monday, unfortunate Monday. This is the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm James Irpene.

Starting point is 00:00:34 We'll do a full show with Jake Liscoe coming up later on Monday. Zach Taylor is scheduled to talk. We're scheduled to be in the locker room here from Dan Pitcher, but had to get to the breaking news of the morning. Joe Burrow, well, let's be honest here. He could be out for the season. And I think that's where I want to be very, very direct. Everything that I look at and I read, Joe Burrow need surgery on this turf toe that he suffered,

Starting point is 00:01:01 this turf toe injury on his toe on his left foot. And when you look at it, three months is the minimum. Three months is the rosy picture where if he has surgery and everything goes really, really well and he can make a recovery that he can be back this season. And I'm sure today Joe was thinking, I'm going to be back this season. And the Bengals are saying, well, there's a chance Joe is back this season. But the reality is, and the reason why I wanted, part of why we were doing this video is to be honest with you. Joe Burrell could miss the entire season.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Joe Burrell might not be back this year. And there's a lot in the grand scheme of things to react to when you hear that sentence. But let's just go surface level in the moment what it means for the 2025 Bengals, what it means for Joe Burrow. First things first, you start 2 and O and you get off to this start that everyone was talking about that you needed to do. You needed to start fast. And they did it. The first time in the Zach Taylor era, they get to 2 and 0. But everyone listening, that's a Bengals fan, would certainly rather be 0 and 2 and have Joe Burrow.

Starting point is 00:02:01 because at minimum, you're missing him for 11 games. Let's just paint the rosy picture and say he's back for that December 14th game against Baltimore. That's 11 games missed. Minimum. And I think that's the rosiest of rosy pictures. I've seen a lot of people said, Duke Mannyweather said I had this exact injury. And, you know, there are different grades to it.

Starting point is 00:02:23 Joe Burrow is reportedly dealing with a grade three injury, which means that ligaments in that toe have torn. well, you need surgery. Duke Mannyweather's like, yeah, I had to go get stem cell replacement out of the country. And so who knows? Maybe Joe does that. Maybe that helps. Maybe he is able to return.

Starting point is 00:02:40 And I think he's going to exhaust every option, every fiber, everything in his being to get back. But this is just such a gut punch. This is such a gut punch after Joe had the best training camp of his career. And the reason I was so repetitive for the everydayers out there. And shout out to the everydayers. And if you're new to the pod, well, guess what? We're the only daily Bengals podcast out there and stay with us because we're not going anywhere, regardless of what happens on the field.

Starting point is 00:03:06 This is your team every day here with Lockdown Bengals. But to me, the camp that he had was just, it was like, man, he's better now than he was last year when he's putting up all these records. He does not have a bad day of training camp. And then he goes out there in the preseason and leads them on four touchdown drives on five possessions, including one of those with backup receivers in, and you're like, this guy is ready to go. And then the season starts, and they were good in that first half against Cleveland last week. And then the second half was awful. And they start really slow against Jacksonville.

Starting point is 00:03:40 They have the one touchdown drive, but it's not like that possession in the second quarter when he got hurt. It was going well. And this offensive line was frustrated, for sure, with their performance in the first half. Ted Carris made that clear that we got our butts kicked in the first half. And that's when I was like, man, this is scary. Joe Burrow is, and this is Sunday after the game. I'm talking with Ted. I'm in a scrum with Ted.

Starting point is 00:04:05 There's multiple media members around. And Orlando Brown Jr. is a couple lockers over, and he's talking to a media member. And then I see Joe in the background leaving. And it's boot on his foot, crutches. And you're like, this just doesn't feel good. You know, the tone from Ted, the tone from Orlando, the tone from other guys in the locker room combined with that side of Joe. And so, yeah, this is, this is the nightmare scenario. It really is.

Starting point is 00:04:38 And the sad part is it, it feels like deja vu, like for me, like going through today and this morning and last night, it wasn't a prime time game. So there was more time to think about it and react and gather information. but it was eerily similar to a few years ago with Joe Burrow and the wrist. Now, this is a different type of injury than that, but eerily similar, where it's like, ah, this is, this seems serious. But in the moment, you're like, he's not going to be out for the season with this. Like, he's walking off the field. And then you gather more information.

Starting point is 00:05:13 And then it's the boot and crutches. And then you see the tone of the guys. And you're like, this seems pretty serious. And then you see the reports on Sunday night. Like they're looking for second and third opinions and fourth. opinions. And I'm sure Joe was looking for anyone that would say, hey, you don't need surgery, Joe. Don't get surgery. And that's not the case. Joe needs surgery. Joe needs surgery, which means the Bengals are going to be without Joe Burrow between now and at least December and maybe for the

Starting point is 00:05:40 rest of the season. Because if they're not in it, you can't bring Joe Burrow back. If they're not in it, you can't risk his health. But there's a lot of, there's a lot of layers to this. And we're not going to unpeel all these in this emergency episode of Locked on Bengals. This is something that we're going to get to, though, like from a scheme standpoint, from an offensive line standpoint, from a front office standpoint, from a Joe Burrell playstyle standpoint, from Zach Taylor, how he played his play call standpoint. Like there are so many layers to this that we're going to have to peel them back one by one. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to dive into kind of an overview of what some of these layers are, my initial thoughts that are certainly subject to change.

Starting point is 00:06:23 It's funny. I was texting with a buddy last night when stuff like this happens, naturally, it comes with the territory. Your phone blows up. And it's like, is Joe okay? Is Joe okay? Is Joe okay? And you have a bunch of messages.

Starting point is 00:06:35 And during the game, obviously, we didn't know. And as things start to unfold, post game, I text them back. I said, this is a week's thing. This is not like a week to week type thing where he's back next week. And if he's not back next week, he's back the week after. Like, you could just tell. And when that report came out last night, he's like, this is months, not weeks. And I was like, well, you know, these things are fluid. They change in a hurry. So let's dive into an overview of all the layers that come with this. From Jake Brown and getting an opportunity to how the Bengals are in this position, can they keep their head afloat?

Starting point is 00:07:13 with Joe Burrow out for months now. We'll dive into all of that coming up next. This emergency episode of Locked-on Bengals is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. They deliver confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety picks and awards than anyone else. From footwork to breathe work, athlete sweat, all the details. Mazda brings the same intention to how they craft every single model with all-wheel drive standard in every crossover SUV, you can drive with confidence through almost any season.

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Starting point is 00:09:44 That's fandle.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, let's dive into some of these layers here. And like I said, this is just kind of setting the tone for what's to come because there's going to be a lot coming down the pike. Later today, me and Jake will gather after the coaches and everybody talk. But first things first, everyone's going to talk about the offensive line. And I get it. I get it. I do.

Starting point is 00:10:09 And it's not just offensive line when you talk about protecting Joe Burrow. It's the scheme, how they're built, the offensive line, the fact that they lean in on this past first offense. And I still get it. I understand doing it. I do. But there's reasons why. And if you go back and you look, listen, however you want to do it. Last off season.

Starting point is 00:10:38 Not this past off season, not a few months ago. I mean, last offseason before the draft, before they took Amarius Mims. We're talking about interior offensive line. We're talking about guys. There's a reason why I still randomly bring up the fact that they pick Jackson, Carmen over Creed Humphrey, Jackson, Carmen, over Sam Cosmy, Jackson, Carmen, over all these other guys. They picked the wrong Smith in the 2021 NFL draft when they take Deonté Smith instead of

Starting point is 00:11:07 Trey Smith. Like those are the type of moves that really cost you. And so when you say say it out loud, Joe Burrough, three injuries, three surgically, seriously serious injuries that require surgery in six NFL seasons. Well, that's scary. People go and say Andrew Locke. People go and say injury prone. People go and say, you can't really debate him. You can't say, oh, well, he's not injury. Well, now it's 50% of the time. Now it's 50% of the time. And so, the why is is interesting to me and yeah he probably does take too many hits well why there's a bunch of reasons but it does start with the offensive line and it does start with them drafting poorly early in his career because when you draft poorly early in your career well then you have the

Starting point is 00:11:56 the pass block win rates and i posted this entire thing bengles talk dot com the past block win rates for this bengals offensive line have been awful they have been awful they have been awful They were 29th and 2020, according to ESPN research, 30th and 21, 30th and 22, 27th and 23, 32nd last year. And he stayed healthy, by the way, which in the moment, we were like, man, he's taking so many hits. Got to be able to protect him 28th and 25 so far this year. And that's why coming into this offseason, what did we say? Two starting guards.

Starting point is 00:12:31 You need to add two starting guards. And it doesn't mean that we didn't have questions about. Amarius Mims, but you thought Amaris would take a step forward, right? I thought Orlando Brown Jr. went healthy, was a higher end tackle, and I still feel that way. Like, some of the stuff doesn't change. But the investment in the offensive line, they have invested, but they've gotten it wrong far more than they've gotten it right. And even if they're right about Amarius and they get it right with a guy like Dylan Fairchild,

Starting point is 00:13:05 it's tough to ask a third round rookie to come in and protect and be that guy right away. And so it's it's not just the offensive line, but there's a reason why there's a theme every single offseason. And there will be a theme again. It's like, go get this guy. I mean, everyone talks about me is like, oh, you're this flashy wide receiver type of guy. I wanted them to draft Tyler to Linderbom in the first round in 2022.

Starting point is 00:13:31 Now, he didn't make it to them. And they took Dax Hill. But like, I talked about Linderbom a ton. And it's why, why? Why would you do that? Because you want to protect Joe. You want to protect Joe with everything you can. And so that's what I think this is.

Starting point is 00:13:47 This is a culmination of so many bad drafts coming into 2021. And then that 2021 draft, and then they tried to fix it in free agency. And they've tried to fix it slowly. You know, you get Orlando Brown Jr. And then you're starting to do it in the draft. And maybe you do. Maybe it is getting there. And Dylan Fairchild is awesome by the end of the year.

Starting point is 00:14:08 and Amarius Mims takes a huge step forward and as a pro bowl or maybe an all pro. Like maybe, right? It could happen. But now you're in this position. And I don't think it's just that. I do think that there's other things here. There's other things at play.

Starting point is 00:14:24 And whether it's the way, because you're going to see this, this offense is going to feel different and look different. But defenses are going to play them different. Joe Burrow is a weapon. So when Joe Barros off the field, they're going to treat Jamar Chase differently than when he's on the field. When Joe Burroughs,

Starting point is 00:14:38 on the field, T. Higgins gets different treatment than when he's off the field. It just does. And they need to find a way to get a real run game, a real run game that can take some of the load off of Joe Burrow. It doesn't mean you don't want him to be awesome. Of course you do. But when I think of, and maybe it's quick short passing game as well, like very quick, like New England, style Tom Brady and that's part of it because it's not like in those latter years of the Patriots that the Patriots had Cory Dillon running for 1,600 yards. They did that at one point, right? But that that wasn't their MO. And so I get it in this past first league. Fine. But man, you just, you got to find a way to alleviate some of these hits. You just do. And there's going to be

Starting point is 00:15:28 people that bring up Joe Burroughs play style. Fine. His three major injuries didn't come with him ad-leving and moving a ton in the pocket. It came with him taking our out. out of the pocket. It came with him taking hits in the pocket. He lands on his wrist, hit, the E.C.L in the pocket yesterday and on Sunday. That's him getting hit and getting sacked in the pocket. And so it's tough. It's tough. I mean, there's so many things that like Zach Taylor's play call, that's going to be discussed, the scheme going to be discussed. And things do need to be adjusted. There's just no doubt. There's just no doubt. Things shouldn't feel as stopped up for this offense as they do at times.

Starting point is 00:16:16 And this year it felt the same way. Like last year, that was my big gripe. Like everyone said, all the offense is great. The defense is like, yeah, the offense was good. Never thought the offense was great last year.

Starting point is 00:16:24 I thought they had a few great players that made great plays. But that was not a great offense down in and down now. That was a good offense that had some elite greatness with Joe Burrow, Jemar Chase, and when he was out there, T. Higgins. And that really changed things. and it made it feel like, oh, yeah, they're a great offense.

Starting point is 00:16:42 I think they were a good offense. So if they're going to get great, they're going to have to find a way to keep Joe upright, Joe healthy. And that's going to be, honestly, if we don't see him all season, it's going to be a huge offseason question. It is. Meanwhile, they're going to have to turn to Jake Browning. We're set to hear from Dan Pitcher on Monday.

Starting point is 00:17:06 We're set to hear from Zach Taylor on Monday. I will be in the locker room in a few hours. And then me and Jake will get back together, huddle up and do our full show. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, it sucks. It sucks. It's awful news. It's not, it's nothing that I want to cover.

Starting point is 00:17:23 It's nothing that you guys want to deal with. I know the Bengals obviously don't want to deal with it. And Joe certainly, I'm sure no one's more heartbroken than him right now. So awful, awful news. But we're going to have you covered. Stick with us. That would be my message. Stick with us.

Starting point is 00:17:36 We're going to have you cover. We're going to bring you. Daily Bengals coverage in the latest from Paycor Stadium later today. Until then, thank you so much for watching and listening, a special emergency edition of Locked-on Bengals for Jake Liskow. I'm James Rupin. Thank you so much for watching and listening to the Lockdowne Bengals podcast.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - EMERGENCY POD: Cincinnati Bengals Star QB Joe Burrow NEEDS Surgery, Could Miss ENTIRE Season

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