Joe Burrow Will Play “Limited Snaps” in Preseason Finale Before Week One Matchup with Vikings
Josh Frey
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NOTE: This article was originally published on our sister site, PurplePTSD.com.
The first week of the NFL regular season is rapidly approaching, with this weekend marking the end of a shortened preseason. In that week 1 matchup, the Vikings are slotted to travel to Cincinnati and play the Bengals. One question mark surrounding Minnesota’s first opponent has been the availability of 2020’s first overall pick, QB Joe Burrow.
Burrow of course suffered a torn ACL last season in a week 11 game against the Washington Football Team. Burrow’s offensive line was infamously bad for the rookie QB, allowing him to be sacked 32 times in less than 10 games, and the injury was a result of a punishing sack delivered by DROY Chase Young.
Despite Cincinnati’s 2-6-1 record going into that game, Burrow himself was well on his way to a successful campaign. He ended his season with 2668 yards, 13 TDs, five INTs, and completed his passes at a 65.3% clip.
The assumption has been that Burrow will start week one against the Vikings, but it now seems like Minnesota will get at least some glimpse of their opponent before then. The Bengals announced on Wednesday that Burrow will play “limited snaps” in their final preseason game against Miami.
It may come as a surprise that Cincinnati would throw Burrow in with the risk of injury. However, it sounds like Miami will be sitting most of their defensive starters this weekend, and a few reps could be useful for the young QB. He has notably had a few mental struggles this training camp, mostly due to his lack of playing time.
What “limited snaps” means isn’t exactly clear at this point, but it seems safe to assume that Burrow will be ready to start against the Vikings and his former teammate LSU Justin Jefferson in the season opener. The game will also be Riley Reiff’s first against his former team. He is set to start at left tackle as he used to for four years in Minnesota.