Joe Burrow's Injury Might Be Costly for Bengals After Social Media Decision

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals had a difficult Thursday night on a number of levels.

First, of course, they lost an important game. Facing the Baltimore Ravens on the road, the Bengals fell 34-20 and dropped to 5-5 overall. The Bengals now trail the 5-4 Houston Texans and the 6-3 Cleveland Browns (as well as the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders on the bubble) in the AFC playoff hunt.

The Bengals also appear to have lost their quarterback for the time being, with what appears to be a sprained wrist, according to head coach Zac Taylor. Asked by reporters how long Burrow will likely be out, Taylor said he had "no idea."

Finally, the Bengals might find themselves in some hot water with the league. Before Thursday's game, the team posted and later deleted a video to X (formerly Twitter) of Burrow with a wrap on his wrist. That was notable because Burrow was not listed on the Bengals' injury report. A number of social media users (as well as some media outlets) picked up on the discrepancy before the game.

That noise would have faded quickly if Burrow had finished the game healthy. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Burrow did not finish the game healthy.

Burrow did not speak to reporters after the game, which is against the rules: Players are required to be available postgame. Newsweek reached out to the Bengals and the NFL by email asking for clarification and comment.

According to a 2017 version of the NFL's rules on injury reports, teams are required to report every injury to the league. That responsibility falls to the public relations director. In underlined terms, the league says that "all players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game."

Later in the document, the NFL says that "particular attention must be paid to the submission of Practice Reports for key players, including, but not limited to, quarterbacks, kickers and punters."

The penalty for violation of the policy "may include a fine on the involved club, fines or suspensions of involved individuals, as well as the possible forfeiture of draft choices by the involved club."

One year after that document was released, the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which limited sports gambling largely to Nevada. This opened the floodgates for sports leagues to partner with gambling sites. The NFL now has three official sportsbook partners: Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel. It also allows sportsbooks to operate on location at NFL stadiums. The league reportedly makes $132 million per year from gambling-related sponsorships.

In other words, gambling has made the injury report and general injury transparency more than $100 million more important to the league. Presumably, that puts quite a bit of pressure on the NFL to respond if Burrow and the Bengals circumvented the rules.

As for the Bengals, they will look to regroup next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.

"Don't get it twisted on what kind of team we have," Taylor told reporters. "We have a chance to regroup. All the things that we really want to do are still in front of us. We control our own destiny at this point."