Joe Burrow injury update: Bengals place QB on injured reserve amid toe issue

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has officially been placed on injury reserve after suffering a toe injury during their Week Two game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Burrow could miss three months if surgery is needed on his toe. Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that Burrow suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury.

The #Bengals have now placed QB Joe Burrow on injured reserve and signed QB Brett Rypien to their active roster.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2025

The injury occurred around the midpoint of the second quarter. Burrow was sacked awkwardly by his foot on the play, with that being the second sack he’d taken after being harassed consistently through the first half of the game. He’d go into the injury tent before hitting the locker room before halftime and eventually getting the turf toe diagnosis.

“Joe Burrow needs toe surgery,” Schefter said on Monday. “He is out a minimum of toe surgery. It is official, he is going to have that toe surgery, and he is going to be lost. Now, the question will be whether he’ll be back this season, but there’s a real possibility that Joe Burrow has played his last down this season for the Bengals.”

“He’s obviously going to want to try and come back early and sooner. But that is going to be challenging to do. He needs the surgery. It is official. He’s going to be out. The Bengals’ season has been remade and he’s going to be lost for an indefinite period here.”

Turf toe is just latest injury Burrow has suffered in NFL career

The injuries have begun to stack up in Burrow’s career. In 2020, he suffered a massive knee injury, with a torn ACL, MCL, PCL, and Meniscus that cost him the final six games of the season. Then, in 2023, he had a right wrist injury that cost him the final seven games of the season. Those injuries are something that Burrow has admitted in the past can weigh heavily on him. Earlier on ‘Get Up‘, when Schefter was sharing concerns about Burrow, he highlighted that injury history.

“There are a litany of injuries that he’s had to fight through from the moment he was drafted in 2020. There’s all the knee injuries when he was getting hammered in the pocket. There was the right wrist injury in 2023. Now, there’s the turf toe,” Schefter said. “With the full extent of the damage and missed time still to be determined.”

Hopefully, Joe Burrow can get back from surgery. In the meantime, Cincinnati is turning to backup Jake Browning, who threw three interceptions in relief of Burrow. With time to prepare, the hope is he’ll keep the Bengals in the playoff race.

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report…