Burrow leaves practice on cart with calf injury

The fourth-year quarterback had been wearing a compression sleeve on that same calf, which was new after saying Wednesday’s first day of full camp was “pretty damn good.”

“Just saw (it was) his calf,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said after practice. “It happened 10 minutes ago so we don’t have any more information yet.”

Burrow was just starting what he hoped would be his first full NFL training camp after appendicitis set him back to start the 2022 camp and in 2021 he was still working back from ACL surgery. His rookie season in 2020 was impacted by COVID restrictions.

On Wednesday in a press conference following the first full practice, Burrow said he needed to “knock on wood” this would be his first full camp. He’s also still negotiating a contract extension, though he’s guaranteed a fifth year after the Bengals picked up his option in April.

When asked why Burrow was wearing the compression sleeve, Taylor said “a lot of guys after the first day have some soreness, and that’s it.”

The team continued practice as trainers tended to Burrow off to the side and as he hobbled again to the medical cart to be taken back to the stadium for evaluation. The Bengals wrapped up shortly after that with their last period.

Taylor said there was no special message to the players.

“This is football, guys go down with an injury that maybe is a day thing so we don’t message the team after every single player goes down,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of guys that had soreness today that had reps cut down a little so that’s just part of it.”

The Bengals have two backup quarterbacks on the roster in Jake Browning and free agent addition Trevor Siemian, but Burrow had been getting all the reps with the first-team offense.

Browning said after practice he was just trying to finish strong after Burrow went down, but “obviously everyone was thinking about it a little bit.” He said the play Burrow was injured on is something quarterbacks have to practice to get ready for the season.

“Hope he’s alright,” Browning said. “Other than that, I know as much as you guys do, so obviously it sucks when anybody goes down and hope he’s alright.”

Several players interviewed after practice expressed confidence Burrow would be OK. Defensive end Sam Hubbard had a calf strain last season and noted those things can linger but said the training staff and Burrow will do the right thing to get it taken care of and “be ready to go.”

Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase called Burrow a “strong guy” and said “he’ll be fine.”

Center Ted Karras was right there when the injury happened, and his reaction was the same as everyone else as silence fell on the field.

“Me and DJ (Reader) were running parallel with Joe,” Karras said. “You could hear us both gasp. I think Joe will be ok.. … I’m no expert, but my gut tells me Joe will be OK.”CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow came up lame out of a scramble, hobbling on one leg before quickly going down to the ground to end the play in the second to last period of the team’s training camp practice Thursday.