Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow expects to be fully cleared for offseason activities in May after suffering a season-ending hand injury last year.
“I think middle of May is when I am expecting to kind of be cleared for full contact and everything,” Burrow told ESPN’s Ben Baby. “Over the next month (to) month and a half, we’ll kind of decide all those things.”
Burrow said he expects he’ll resume full throwing sessions during OTAs. He added that his timeline isn’t far off from his regular offseason routine of the past two years as he usually begins throwing at OTAs.
“I can lift basically normally now, which I’m excited about,” Burrow said. “So, the next two months, I’ll basically be just doing what I’ve done for the last couple of years, just the 12 weeks of extra work in the rearview.”
The 27-year-old tore a wrist ligament in his throwing hand in Week 11 last season against the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow also missed most of training camp last year due to a calf injury that lingered into the beginning of the campaign. He went 5-5 in 10 starts last season, throwing for 2,309 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Cincinnati finished last in the AFC North with a 9-8 record, failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Despite injuries to Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins, the star passer doesn’t believe the ailments resulted in the Bengals’ disappointing season.
“We need the guys that we draft to come in and be productive and take on the leadership roles that we’ve lost the last couple of years,” Burrow said. “And we need to bring in the right pieces this offseason, too, whether it’s the draft or free agency.”
He added: “The injuries were what they were last year, but we weren’t good enough in a lot of different places to make a Super Bowl run in my opinion.”
Burrow has 14,083 passing yards and 97 touchdowns in 52 career starts.
