Bengals Beat: Joe Burrow Has Toe Surgery, ‘No Timeline’ For Return, Shemar Stewart Out, Cam Taylor-Britt Doubtful Sunday

CINCINNATI — Now the waiting and rehab begins.

Joe Burrow had surgery on his left big toe and foot on Friday morning after tearing ligaments in a “turf toe” injury last Sunday in a 31-27 win over Jacksonville.

“Joe just had surgery completed,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced after Friday’s practice inside the IEL Indoor Structure. “(It) went well, he’s in recovery. And that’s really all I can give you right now. No timeline. There’s no reason to give a timeline. We don’t have the timeline. So now he’s just in recovery, and we’ll go from there.”

Estimates on a Grade 3 strain of the ligaments in the foot associated with “turf toe” range between 3-4 months on the average. If everything goes well, three months from Friday would put Burrow’s return at Week 16 in Miami on Dec. 21.

Zac Taylor also had updates Friday about several injured defensive players in advance of Sunday’s game in Minnesota, as the Bengals look for their first 3-0 start since 2015, when they opened 8-0.

Defensive end Shemar Stewart will be out Sunday after injuring his right ankle in last Sunday’s win over Jacksonville in the fourth quarter. He is considered “week to week” at this point and his status will be re-evaluated next week prior to the game in Denver.

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt suited up for the Friday walkthrough and practice Friday and went through stretching but did not take part in the drills and was listed as a DNP. He is expected to be a game-time decision on Sunday and is officially listed as doubtful after pulling his hamstring during Wednesday’s practice. He did not practice Thursday.

Another corner, DJ Turner, was limited Friday and is questionable. If Taylor-Britt can’t go, expect to see corner Marco Wilson active for the game. The Bengals secondary is expected to be tested against the likes of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.