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Bengals Receive Major Injury Update – Quarterback Joe Burrow Seen at Practice, December Return Likely!

Joe Burrow's 21-day return window is officially open!

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

After coming out on the wrong side of the scoreline in Week 9 against the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals dropped to 3-6 on the season, with very little to no hope remaining for the playoffs.

Enjoying a much-needed bye week this week, the Bengals know that any more losses this season will all but end their chances of making a push for the postseason. But, even as the team goes through this terrible time, there is some positive news with respect to franchise quarterback Joe Burrow and his injury update.

Joe Burrow on if they are a playoff team:

"Our division is wide-open. We play Pittsburgh this week. Everything is in front of us. It's very rare our division looks like this, but it does this year."

He knows we could make a playoff push.
pic.twitter.com/AWFyuP6l9a
— Playoff Bengals (@PlayoffBengals) November 10, 2025

Joe Burrow Back at Bengals Practice

Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow was back at the team practice session on Monday in a limited capacity, nearly 2 months after suffering a turf toe injury in Week 2 of the season. Earlier, it was anticipated that he could make a complete return sometime in December, depending on his recovery.

A major development for the #Bengals: QB Joe Burrow is returning to practice.

A little under two months after toe surgery, Burrow has his practice window opened, and he’ll be limited. Still on Injured Reserve, he has 21 days to be activated. A December return is real. pic.twitter.com/KqkFZwMsya
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 10, 2025

Burrow’s 21-day window to make a return is now officially open, which means that the 28-year-old now has 21 days to continue practicing without being counted against the Bengals’ 53-man roster. Cincinnati will, however, need to make a decision on whether to play him or end his season by the time the 21-day window expires.

What that means, basically, is that veteran quarterback Joe Flacco will lead the Bengals in their Week 11 game against the Steelers, and could very well be under center in Week 12 against the Patriots as well. If Burrow were to make a comeback, the earliest we can expect to see him would be against the Ravens on November 28, or perhaps the Bills on December 8.

Bengals Postseason Chances

One thing the Bengals would be monitoring before they make any hasty decisions on Burrow is where the team stands after the upcoming couple of weeks. With 6 losses on the year, Cincinnati can ill afford to lose games going forward.

Looking back at the previous weeks, the apparent problem lies more on the defensive side of things. Cincinnati has been unable to close out close games, or the defense has allowed too many points, leading to most of their losses. Offensively, even with Burrow out, Flacco has stepped in and done a pretty good job overall. However, if the Bengals look to bring Burrow back, the team will first have to play top-notch football on both sides of the ball so as to ensure that they remain with a chance of sneaking into the playoffs.

A reminder that the #Bengals are still only two games behind first place in the division with a 2-0 record in the AFC North. The Steelers and Ravens also still have to play each other twice.

And with this guy back soon, anything is possible. pic.twitter.com/510p9O7l79
— SleeperBengals (@SleeperBengals) November 10, 2025

Coming up next, the Bengals have a few tough matches, including 2 games against division rivals, the Ravens, along with the Steelers, Patriots, and the Bills. The other positive for the Bengals is that no team from the AFC North is running away with the division, which provides Cincinnati with some hope as well.

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow injury update

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!