The 2025 NFL season has tested the resilience of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow following a lengthy bout with turf toe, which seems to have him reflecting on the longevity of his career.
Burrow is set to take part in just his fifth game of the season in the team’s Week 15 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens after being forced to miss a nine-game stretch with his turf toe injury.
The two-time Pro Bowler has been quite candid about his lingering injury. Upon returning as the Bengals starter, Burrow has opened up about having to wear custom cleats with a carbon fiber plate to help support his right foot, which has been quite uncomfortable for him.
His turf toe injury is the latest of a string of issues that have plagued his career. Burrow has already suffered several other season-ending injuries in the past, tearing his ACL and MCL in 2020 and suffering a serious wrist injury in 2023.
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Rehabbing his plethora of serious injuries over the years appears to be taking a toll on Burrow so much so that he told reporters on Wednesday that he is trying to “have fun” playing football again.
Discussing Burrow’s comments during an appearance on the “Up & Adams Show” on Thursday, former Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Bruce Arians couldn’t help but compare the Bengals star to former Colts star Andrew Luck based on their shared admission of losing the joy of playing football due to injuries.
“He’s tired of the injuries,” said Arians. “I see a little bit of Andrew Luck. Sitting in that training room for three, four, five years in a row. Never getting any downtime, it wears on you. I picked them to win the AFC North and beat the Bills last week. Joe was playing lights out, and then those two crazy picks. Yeah, I think he is very very frustrated because he likes winning. He’s used to winning.”
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It’s hard not to see the similarities in the careers of Burrow and Luck on paper. Both have proven to be elite-level quarterbacks that struggled to stay on the field due to injuries thus far.
Burrow still has plenty of time to change the narrative around who he is as a player. However, this admission about losing the joy in playing football is something we similarly heard from Luck in his retirement speech in 2018.
Hopefully, Burrow is able to quickly find out how to enjoy his craft moving forward. If he can’t, the Bengals may very well be in for some significant struggles in the years to come without their superstar quarterback.
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