Bengals Under Pressure as Joe Burrow’s Comeback Window Opens | Enter the Jungle

Bengals Under Pressure as Joe Burrow’s Comeback Window Opens | Enter the Jungle

Joe Burrow is back at practice. Does that mean we’re going to see him play in another game this season? We’re going to hear from Joe. We’re going to discuss his possible return and much, much more right now on Enter the Jungle. Hi again everyone and welcome in to Enter the Jungle. A special beach edition, a special burrow edition as well. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Rupine. We are proudly brought to you by FanDuel and Garage Beer. Garage Beer. Well, it uh it might be fueling me on this by week. This bye-week that I thought I’ll be honest, Andrew. I thought I’d be able to cruise a little bit, relax, get a little RNR, feed up, rest my toes. And Joe Burrow said, “No toes, get rest this season.” He was activated from uh the injured reserve list on Monday. cleared for practice, opening up a 21-day window, which means that Joe Burrow, within the next 21 days, the Bengals will have to make a decision. Will he play again this season and join the 53man roster, or will he be shut down for the year? We’re going to know within the next 21 days between now and December 1st. And so, should I hit the beach or should I not? Well, obviously today was not a beach day. It was all about Joey B and the Bengals. Two things. One, I’m glad you brought up this speech thing cuz if that had been hanging over us this entire episode, I would have been like, when’s he going to talk? I I was going to bring it up if you didn’t. I mean, we put videos on Cincinnati Bengals talk. There was no explanation, no transparency as to why there there was a beach. I don’t even think I saw comments of people asking about it. That’s crazy to me. And then two, just stay there. Stay there. It seems like good things happen when you’re there. So, just stay there. What’s the problem? That’s true. Maybe I should stay for the Pittsburgh game. And if they win, then I’ll just stay and I’ll just stay and stay and stay some more. Mike Brown, are you on board? Maybe Mike Brown’s on board with this. I’m not sure. Maybe Joe Burrow is. Honestly, there are a lot of people that could fund this view. Uh since we’re staying here, I’d be happy to uh to oblige if that would help the Bengals out. Uh Joe Burrow back at practice. We saw that on Monday. What was your initial reaction outside of me being at the beach? What was your initial thought that went through your mind when that news came across? I believe it was 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday when that was announced. Surprise, tempering expectations, realizing that, hey, this is just the first step in the sort of comeback timeline. And I think as we got more information, as Joe came out and spoke about everything, we started to see where his mindset was with that, and I know we’re going to play clips of it. tempering expectations in the sense of look, we don’t know what this is going to look like come December. If Burrow is able to come back before then, we don’t know if he’s going to take the field depending on what happens in the games ahead of us, but it is impressive. I’ll give him that. I will give him that. It is impressive because we had we had a doctor talking about best case scenario, we’re looking at December time frame and now we we might have something better. We’ll see. I hope so. I I hope so. Obviously, there there’s there’s so many thoughts when it comes to Joe Bro’s return, what it could mean, all of those things. But let’s hear from Joe himself. He discussed how he’s feeling physically, the toe, the surgery, all of those things, because he’s literally cleared for practice 57 days after going on injured reserve. He had surgery shortly after that. Here’s Joe Burrow on everything he’s doing and how he’s feeling. Ahead of timeline, ahead of schedule certainly when it comes to this injury. We’ve been lifting for for for a while at at this point and um running for a couple weeks now. So, we felt good about my return to to getting back on the field and um testing it out. When would you want to put I mean, if if things let’s say the team does do well, is there a timeline of when you feel like the soonest you would be available? We got we have 21 days to to figure that out. Um could be early, could be late in that window. Uh there’s, you know, we’re still we’re still pretty early postsurgery for this injury. So, we have a couple weeks of practice to to figure that out and see where it goes. Another ligament injury. So, you know, I know how to deal with those. It’s um not not a ton of, you know, on a scale of difficulty level coming back. This one wasn’t wasn’t really up there. I was back to moving pretty quickly and was, you know, able to get back into my strength and conditioning routine pretty quick. So, um, my body’s in a good spot. I love hearing that. I think that’s music to a lot of people’s ears. My body’s in a good spot. Look, Joe Burrow from the jump from that that first week ahead of that Minnesota game when we’re talking about Jake Browning and what’s going on with Joe. I knew he tur told people around him close to him, hey, I plan on being back this season. Like that was the goal then, but to go from that to to everything that this this team that he’s been through, he’s busted his tail behind the scenes. I’ve heard all of those things to get to this point where they’re three and six and yet the beacon of hope is throwing passes at practice and and and the big dog is suddenly warming up and stretching and getting ready to go. That’s that’s a a huge shot in the arm. Like Joe Flacco gave that to them last month. Now Joe Burrow is here and showing everyone like, “Hey, I’m around. I’m still here. I do think that that holds some water here when it comes to this three and six team fighting for their lives because he’s like, “Yeah, not only am I going to activate this practice window, but I I’m going to be more than prepared to come back even though it does feel like as of now three and six, the Bengals aren’t just on the outside looking in from a playoff standpoint. A lot of people are thinking draft in the Bengals fan base and Joe Burrow certainly not thinking that way.” Yeah. And you can hear some of the discourse out there, the jokes. Oh, can good. Can Joe Brow play defense or Yeah. Oh, oh, now the Bengals will score 50 points and lose by 52 points, so we’ll be okay. Like, I get it. And and you could even say to a certain degree, Bengals are going to benefit from the optics of this. Sure, who cares? All right. But it will be interesting to see how it impacts the players, how it impacts the team, and having that something to to work towards relatively short term, all things considered. We’ll see if that actually makes an impact. Never mind Burl just getting back on the field. The possibility of him literally being on the field in practice and seeing that there’s a path to it. Could it could it ignite something and see maybe? You certainly hope it ignites the ability to tackle and I I would start there, right? The the the ability to tackle someone in space, right? But but in all seriousness, like the the will, the desire, all of those things, that can be motivating. I certainly hope that’s the case. When could Joe Burrow return? So, a little bit more on this. If you’re unaware, the the way it works, the 21-day window, they activated on activated it on Monday, November 10th. So, that means between then and December 1st, the Bengals have that 21 days to evaluate Joe Burrow. He can practice without counting against their 53man roster, and he can be activated at any time during that window. He’s not going to be activated ahead of Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. We know that much. Zack Taylor said it. Not surprising there. I don’t think he will be activated ahead of their November 23rd matchup against the New England Patriots. That’s a week from Sunday. I think that the next two weeks could certainly determine whether or not Joe Burrow plays again this season. Here’s Joe Burrow on the significance of a prime time Thanksgiving night matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. 21 days from today would be 4 days after Thanksgiving. How meaningful would it be to given your history in Baltimore being a division game to come back for that game? Barry, is that your target? We’ll see. We’ll see how these next couple weeks go. He wanted so bad, Andrew, to say, “Hell yeah, that’s my target. I’m going to be back Thanksgiving night. I’m going to go to Baltimore and we’re going to kick their tail.” Like, that’s what he wanted to say. and instead it was very and made a little smirk if you’re listening and not watching. Made a little smirk with it. A and then uh let me dial it back here. Let me not make any crazy comments because if they go 0 and2 and they’re three and eight, they shouldn’t bring Joe Burrow back. Let’s be honest. If if they’re they’re four and seven, I still think that’s a tough tough sell. But maybe they win the next two and they’re five and six and they’re going to Baltimore and they have a chance to get to 500. I totally think Joe Bro is targeting Thanksgiving night. Suddenly that prime time matchup in Baltimore could get mighty mighty intriguing if it’s the return of Burrow. Yeah, definitely some sort of cryptic vibes there with his response. I’ll agree on that one. And I don’t know if you pulled a clip of this, but he does mention we’ll see how things feel. And I think it’s exactly what you’re saying in that literal feel as far as me being able to function physically out there and how the season feels. And if we know if we remember anything from Burrow last season, there were times we’re like, it’s a nonzero chance you get into the playoffs, but it wasn’t looking good. And Burrow still sees it and goes, there’s a shot. We we’re still we still have an opportunity all the way to the end. They didn’t make it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he clings on any possibility just to get back out on that field. Speaking of the playoffs, it’s a perfect segue because he was asked about the playoffs and the Bengals path to the playoffs in the AFC North in the wild card. And you’re going to hear what Joe Burrow had to say about that coming up next. Welcome back to Enter the Jungle. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Rapine. And the Bengals are three and six. The Bengals are in third place in the AFC North. And yet the Bengals feel like they have a chance at the playoffs. Joe Burrow knows the path to the playoffs. Probably isn’t the wild card at 3 and six. It’s going through the division. A division that everyone thinks the Ravens are probably going to win at this point. A division that the Steelers lead right now five and four despite their ugly, ugly loss to the Chargers. That offense looked awful on Sunday night. And yet still the Steelers in first place in the division, the Ravens in second place, the Bengals in third place, and Joe Burrow knows they’re going to have to start winning some games and win the North if they want to make the postseason. Our division is wide open. There’s a lot of I think Pit Pittsburgh’s five and four at this point. We play them this week. So, you know, everything is still there in in front of us. It’s very rare that our division looks like this, but it does is here. And so, you know, I think we’ll be at least in it until the end. I think it would be very difficult for us to be a wild card team at this point. Obviously, a lot a lot of football to be played. Uh but, you know, I think that’s difficult. Well, I think our best path would be to win the division. Got to win the division. The Bengals are 2 and 0 in the AFC North. They play the Ravens twice in a 3we span later this month and into December. They end with the Browns. Obviously, they play the Steelers on Sunday. So, yeah, you want to win the division. Honestly, Andrew, I I say you better go six and0 in the division. You better win all four of those games to give yourself a chance at three and six. Maybe Joe Burrow’s on the field for three of those four games. I think that’s best case scenario at this point. I notice in Burough’s response too, it’s very, it feels like it’s been very uncommon that he evaluates in this case chances of a postseason and saying it’d be very difficult for wild card. I feel like he either wouldn’t even mention that or he would maybe even say h you know there’s a chance there, but no, he he almost dismissed that. Obviously turns to the optimism of what’s ahead of them in the AFC North and I get it. But I just thought it was interesting. Brow doesn’t usually do that to to volunteer some some doubt on that on any particular path. He focuses on the ones that he sees and can uh try to achieve. Yeah. And and honestly, he didn’t say it this way, but the division’s crappy right now. The Steelers aren’t any good. The Ravens have have have been bad. The Bengals are bad right now. And and the Browns are a non-factor. You know, they they have a quarterback that can throw it about four yards. I don’t know why Nick Padone isn’t playing quarterback for the Browns right now. He’d be an upgrade from Dylan Gabriel. They’re the same height, by the way, and maybe the same weight. I’m not sure. But the point is remains that this Bengals team, one, they’re still technically in it because the division stinks. Two, I hate that they stubbed their toe the past couple of weeks. If they had just beat the Jets, if they had just beat the Jets, they’re playing for first place on Sunday. Like, think about that. if they had won the past two games, they are in first place and they’re looking to gain a separate a game of of separation between the the Steelers and themselves on Sunday. It’s it’s unbelievable to think everything that’s happened since the Joe Flacco trade now with Joe Bros practice window activated and him ready to go from a practice standpoint. Everything could have worked out. They could have been hitting the ground running right now had they not given up 86 points in their last two games. I know we’ll be talking about this a bit later, but imagine for some people maybe the pressure that this creates. I mean, it was always there and it got worse as you start started to slip out of uh you know, losing games and but you’re still not out of it. The division’s there for taking and now your franchise quarterback is stepping up and saying, “Hey, might be coming in a little sooner.” It’s like when a boss comes back from vacation sooner than you expected or like you coming back from the beach maybe at some point, but if you surprise him like, “Oh, hang on. I’m just cleaning a house here. I’m I’m not done with these projects yet. That’s what this feels like to me, I would imagine, for some players and and and Bengals coaches as well. All I know is is I’m working at the beach. Still putting in the grind at the beach. I don’t know what you’re talking about. What we’re grinding here. The optics of this are so ridiculous. I know some people may be listening to this, but James, with this beach backdrop, I’m in this dark dungeon with snow outside. Unreal. Your lighting is better than mine right now. I’m about to go over there and fix that ISO automatically correcting there. Give me a ticket to Orange Beast right now. I’ll come fix that camera. Yeah. Oh, come fix that camera. You always tink. See, you tinker way too much with the electronics. That’s why they don’t work. The bottom line is this. We need to dive into these AFC North divisional odds because there was a big change, a big change with Joe Burrow in his update when it comes to him practicing again. We’ll get to those division odds coming up next. Welcome back to Enter of the Jungle. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Rene. And the Bengals division odds, well, they changed in a big big way after the news of Joe Burrow returning to practice after that news broke. And we’re going to get to those odds coming up in just a second. But the NBA is here and FanD is your home for live betting. So even if you missed the start of the game, you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets. You can wager on anything from who’s going to score the next basket to fourth quarter comebacks which obviously the Bengals have been a part of over the past few weeks and not on the right side of it. So regardless of it’s NFL NBA, FanDuel has you covered and right now FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. All you have to do is visit fan.com/bigplay. That’s fanduel.com/bigplay to sign up today. Play your game with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions do apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling. Call 1800gambler or visit rghelp.com. Call 1888-789-77777 or visit ccpg.org/hatin Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800 327-50 for 247 support in Massachusetts or call 1877 8 hopey or texty in New York. And Andrew, let’s look at these FanDuel odds. in the division AFC North. The Bengals went from plus,700 to plus, 1100 just like that with something very very simple. Joe Burrow coming back from that injury and practicing. Do you buy it? Do are are you giving them a shot here in the North? Do you think that there’s a realistic shot? They’re underdogs on Sunday in Pittsburgh. That’s not going to change. Joe Bro isn’t going to play on Sunday. He can’t go out there and tackle. Well, he he probably could tackle better than some of the Bengals defenders, but the point is the point. He’s not going to be on the field playing on Sunday in Pittsburgh. Do you give them a chance to win this division with Joe Burrow leaving the door open for him to return if they win a game or two? I mean, the money’s obviously moving. By the way, I should have done that read. I mean, you could have gone and taken a dip out in the ocean while I did that one. You think you could have done that in time, jumped in the water and gotten back to your mic by the time that read was done? It’s right behind me. So, yes, I it’s very very convenient. This is called a beach front, Andrew. Beach front. There there’s not a road there. There’s not a couple stores in the way. You don’t have to c, you know, go through the river, through the woods, or over the river, you know. You don’t have to do any of that. It’s just right there. It’s just right right there, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And this is my This is underground dwelling on my side. What What This is great. See, you could call it the Batcave. You could be cool, but you want to It doesn’t feel cool right now, James. It doesn’t feel Look, the money is moving is my point. They’re seeing it. I I think there are some people out there that are like, “Oh, what what happened on defense again. How is that going to change that much?” But people are making their choices out there. They’re seeing some trends. You could probably holler at someone down at that beach right now. Say, “Hey, you put in on on Bengals AFC North. What are your thoughts?” I bet you it was different today than it was yesterday. Odds still aren’t great, but man, I’m in Alabama. AJ McCarron might be down there. You want me to ask him? Ask him right now. AJ AJ. Hey, he said he yelled who day. Yeah, the energy. See this? What a difference Burrow’s presence makes. Am I vacationing with AJ McCarron for real? That’s next. Send me down there now for for that segment. I want to polish that one up. Yeah, we uh that is not going to happen. But we are going to discuss one more thing. When it comes to this Burough top, there’s so many I know. And with Burrow opening the door to a return this season, we have to discuss the elephant in the room and we will do that coming up next. Welcome back to Enter the Jungle. I’m James Rain. He’s Andrew Fox Miller and with Joe Burrow returning. Andrew and there’s there’s a lot to this. I hope we get to it here. If we don’t, we’ll have more for you as always on the YouTube channel Cincinnati Bengals Talk or wherever you get your podcast. But it’s very simple here when it comes to Joe Burrow returning. Joe Burrow gets back on the practice field and now the Bengals have to do their part. Now the pressure is on. The pressure is on Al Golden and the defense and Zack Taylor and Joe Flacco and the offensive line and Jamar Chase and T and everybody to perform to give Joe Burrow a chance to come back. So let me ask you, Trey Dubine has passed. There’s not a bunch of new faces walking through that door. Who has the most pressure on them going into Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh knowing that Joe Burrow could return if they handle business over the next few weeks? Yeah, I mean it whoever is in a position to ensure that it’s worth bringing Burrow back onto the field at all. I mean, that’s everyone. I get it. But I think it it’s really somewhere on on the defense and you can even say a head coaching and work your way up. But ultimately it is can the defense do enough? Assuming the offense continues what they’re doing. I don’t know that there’s many scenarios where I’m going to be looking back and saying, “Oh, offense really let Joe down.” It hasn’t once felt that way since Joe Flacco has been on this team. So yeah, it’s going to probably inevitably be on this defense and this could be the storyline. Can the defense turn it around? Can they be below average? And I say that as like not the worst. Below average. Yeah. And and pull away with some wins. I think that’s where the pressure is going to be on, right? I mean, based on what we’ve seen so far. Sure. It it is because and I agree with you. I think there’s a Zack Taylor angle to this for sure. I I there’s multiple layers to it. To me, it is the defense. Like the reason why I went and fired Zack or Al or whoever last week, they can’t go out there and make Jordan Battle tackle. They can’t go out there and make sure Josh Newton isn’t doing uh doing a shimmy next to Coloulston Lovelin and it actually runs through him because that’s what should happen. And so these guys shouldn’t want to be embarrassed anymore and that’s where it starts. You you don’t want to go out there and be embarrassed. You you get embarrassed in in anything over and over and over again. And for the past month, the past four games, this defense has been embarrassing. and it’s been their any loss, any close win, and that Steelers close win wouldn’t have even been that close had the defense done its job. It hasn’t done its job. And so, they need to do that. The pressure is on. There’s multiple layers and angles to it from there. But that’s where it starts. The pressure’s on Al Golden. The pressure’s on this defense, but there’s also pressure on the offense because they better keep playing at a high level for sure. And I I think it showed some cracks at times. And so that’s what’s tough about that question is I think the answer is just yes. Yeah. You guys got to find a way to get Joe Burrow back on the field. And the only way to do that is to win some football games. Yeah. By the way, a lot of these guys on defense one year one year prove it deals, finding your rookie contracts during contract years. Prove it. If that didn’t Yeah. If that didn’t motivate them, can you imagine the MVP conversations if all of a sudden the possibility of Burrow coming back gets this defense moving? Whether you can prove it or not, I don’t know. Give Joe Burrow a reason to come back. It’s that simple. It’s that simple. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Orin. Sometimes it might not be easy, but the answer is simple. We’ll talk to you next time. Thank you so much for watching and listening to Enter the Jungle. Appreciate you keeping your shirt on at the beach. James.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is back at practice, and the season becomes even more interesting as a result. James Rapien and Andrew Fox Miller break down what Burrow’s return means for Cincinnati’s playoff hopes, his potential comeback timeline, and the amount of pressure that Zac Taylor, Al Golden and the Bengals’ defense now face. They also discuss Burrow’s comments about targeting a Thanksgiving return vs. the Baltimore Ravens and react to FanDuel’s updated AFC North odds.

00:00 Joe Burrow returns to practice
09:50 Path to Playoffs
14:50 AFC North odds
19:05 Who is feeling the most pressure?

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