Burrow ‘encouraged’ by his return to practice

Although he said he’s felt good the last two days, Burrow acknowledged there are still “good days and bad days” with the wrist. Burrow hasn’t been fully cleared for contact yet, but expects that to come in the next month or two.

“There’s always going to be some pain when you are coming back from injury, throughout the rehab process,” Burrow said in his first press conference since January. “That’s something you just have to battle through if you want to come back from injuries 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 are going to make sure that we give it the breaks we need. We’re going to be smart about it, but on the days I’m feeling good, I’m going to go.”

Burrow said he would keep to himself whether he experiences pain throwing the ball specifically, but he’s been “encouraged by these last couple days” and he’s “happy” where he’s at in the process.

This is the second major surgery he’s undergone in four NFL seasons, but one of several injuries. He tore his ACL as a rookie in 2020, then battled through a series of minor injuries throughout his comeback season in 2021 to lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl. Burrow missed half of 2022 training camp because of an appendectomy and was impacted at the start of last season by a calf strain suffered on Day 2 of camp.

Through it all, he’s learned how to listen to his body better.

“I’m growing and learning how to handle my body,” Burrow said. “I think that’s a continued process of learning when to push through something that you think maybe might be there and another day, you might not be feeling great and this muscle’s a little tight and like, ‘Hey, we got to take it easy today.’ So that’s something that I’m continuing to learn. I think that’s part of growing as a player and as a pro and it’s a continued process day-in and day-out.”

Burrow said the wrist surgery was not the worst rehab he’s been through, considering how much longer of a process coming back from knee surgery was, but this procedure was unique because he didn’t know of any quarterbacks that had been through the same injury. Although he was able to talk to some offensive and defensive linemen and linebackers that had been through it, they didn’t need the wrist mobility he does, so he was “flying blind” at the beginning of the rehab process.

Rehab still went “lights out,” Burrow said, and the Bengals athletic training and medical staff were helpful making sure he got that range of motion back. Asked if there are still risks associated with playing after the wrist surgery, Burrow said “most of those points” are behind him.

“We are kind of at the end of the 6-7 months this is going to take,” Burrow said. “At this point, it’s just about getting ready to play football. It will continue to get better. The knee was cleared after nine months, but I didn’t really start to feel normal until about a year out. I imagine this is about how that is going to feel. Fortunately, that coincides with the beginning of training camp, start of the season. We will see where it is at when the time comes. You never know, but right now we are in a good spot.”

Burrow was able to focus on getting bigger and stronger this offseason while rehabbing the wrist, and he’s feeling good physically and conditioning wise. He also was able to keep working on footwork even when he couldn’t throw the football, but he’s still working to get his mechanics back where he would like them.

His throws looked crisp Tuesday. He had one underthrow to Charlie Jones, then later overthrew him on a deep route, but for the most part he was hitting his targets. The next step for him to improve is the “off-platform” throws that require more wrist involvement, he said.

“It’s a work in progress,” Burrow said. “I’ve been throwing for about a month. So just like any offseason, you’re working through some rust. A little more this year than in years past, but I’m still working through everything — footwork, arm path, the little intricacies of the throwing motion. That’s something that I’m working through every day, and I’m gonna continue to hone and improve at.”