Bengals Beat: Are Bengals Readying Joe Burrow For A Return Sunday? Mitch Tinsley ‘True Testament’ To Hard Work

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are being coy about Joe Burrow.

The Bengals quarterback was cleared to start practicing on Nov. 10, the day after their bye week Sunday. He worked through 7-on-7 drills, tossing the ball to receivers but not facing any scrambling in practice.

On Wednesday, the franchise quarterback progressed to 11-on-11 drills for the first time, taking first-team reps as Joe Flacco took Wednesday off from throwing (a routine he’s be on since spraining his right AC joint in his throwing shoulder against the Bears on Nov. 2.

All of this leads to speculation as to whether Burrow could return to action this Sunday against the Patriots. But that speculation begins with the status of Joe Flacco. Asked if Flacco would definitely start Sunday, Taylor was non-committal. Of particular note, Burrow was listed as a full participant at practice on Wednesday, the first time since Sept. 12, the Friday before the home opener against Jacksonville.

“We’ll keep working through it you know and see how we go through the week,” Taylor said. Flacco played the role of observer for the second straight week and thought Burrow looked the part of a starting quarterback.

“Joe looked good. It’s cool to see him out there, and obviously when you’re both now taking reps some conversations happen, like how do you see this vs. that. Joe looked good,” Flacco said.

Is there a scenario where Joe Burrow plays?

“Like I said the other day, until we get through some practices, there no reason for me to speculate on that,” Taylor added.

The Bengals are afforded some flexibility in the reps at practice because of the plan to rest Flacco’s sore right shoulder.

“I think you can certainly get a lot of work in with Joe Burrow because Joe Flacco isn’t on practicing because the plan has been get him into 11 on 11 so it works well,” Taylor said. “We’re not trying to balance the guy who was gonna practice on a Wednesday, Joe Flacco hasn’t done that. We’ll get through today. We’ll get Joe Burrow out there and see how it goes.”

It’s logical to think that if Burrow feels no ill effects of running around on his left big toe and he’s feeling ready, then he could return. But anything short of feeling 100 percent, Burrow would likely take another week and then not have to worry about recovery on a short week and return against Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.

There is also the possibility that an internal decision is made above Burrow to not play him the rest of the season, thus avoiding any further injury with the team at 3-7. They are not mathematically eliminated yet and the Bengals responded with five straight wins behind Burrow in 2024.

Another scenario is starting Burrow, having Flacco as the backup and Jake Browning as the emergency quarterback. It’s highly unlikely the Bengals would activate Burrow and not start him.

What we don’t know are the conversations between Burrow, Zac Taylor and management about how they should play this, even if Burrow is telling everyone that he feels great. If Taylor deems Burrow 100 percent or very, very close to it, then we could see No. 9 charging out of the tunnel on Sunday against the Patriots and perhaps give a desperately-needed emotional boost to a team that has floundered at 1-7 without him.

Vrabel and the Patriots defense:

One of the reasons the Patriots have rebounded from back-to-back four-win seasons to a 9-2 mark this year is because of a revitalized defense. Led by Christian Barmore in the middle of a stout defensive line, New England has the best run defense in the NFL, allowing just 84.7 yards per game on the ground. The Patriots have overhauled their defense with five free agents including nose Khyiris Tonga, linebackers K’Lavon Chaisson, Robert Spillane and Harold Landry, corner Carlton Davis and safety Jaylinn Hawkins, a stark contrast to the status quo approach the Bengals took last spring.

This is a Patriots defense that had one shining moment in 2024, the season-opening 16-10 win over the Bengals at Paycor.

“Impossible to compare. That was that was Week 1, such a unique thing, because they had a new staff last year,” Zac Taylor said. “So that one doesn’t even count to me, I think that he’s just done a great job. It’s similar enough to what they did in Tennessee, but there’s some differences. And so again, I think spending time away for a year, however you look at it, they’ve done a good job. There’s some things that stay the same. They’re really hard-nosed playing defense. They do the they do some things really well. There’s a physicality to them, for sure, that shows up.”

“There’s a couple guys that have been with Vrabel in the past that he brings along, and some other guys that they added from around the league, and the guys that have been there that continue to grow within the organization. So it’s challenging defense. They do a really good job. It’s a team that overall has won eight in a row. So you normally look at the turnover battle and think, okay, they’re dominating turnover battle, it’s not they’re (net) zero. It’s even for them. And so that’s an impressive way to win eight in a row when there’s been game where it’s plus or minus, but overall, it’s zero. And so I think that that’s just pretty impressive, that they’ve been able to do what they do is ready to do what they do is ready to have that tells you that they’re playing really sound football on three phases.”

Tinsley step up:

With Ja’Marr Chase out serving his one-game suspension, this figures to be a week for Mitchell Tinsley to step up and take on a bigger role in the Bengals offense. He has three catches for 49 yards this season and a touchdown. Tinsley worked hard to earn a spot out of camp. Now, he’s got the chance to show what he can do as the second or third receiver in the offense.

“I mean just by hard work, I mean true testament to the value of hard work and little else,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “And when you’re true to that, and you believe in that, and you represent that every single day, you don’t need much else, because that will come across to the people who matter when it comes to making those decisions, with regard to what your role is going to be and and what you’re going to do. So he’s the same guy was he’s self made, absolutely nothing was handed to him, and he just continues to earn more and more opportunities. And so that’s, a great example of just going back to the first question: you can look at this as a burden or an opportunity, and where we find ourselves this weekend. I think for a guy like Mitch, it can be an opportunity.”

Could Tinsley be someone other players around the building can kind of look to, and kind of see the path?

“I would hope so,” Pitcher added. “Everybody has their own value systems and things that are important to them, but it’d be hard to look at what he’s done and continues to do, and nothing glamorous, but he’s earned a role, and he does important work for us, and that’s for a guy with his background. There are other guys with shared backgrounds, that’s the path, and so hopefully guys have seen it and are attempting to emulate it.”