Will Bengals TAKE the Gamble and UNLEASH Joe Burrow Against Patriots?

Will Bengals TAKE the Gamble and UNLEASH Joe Burrow Against Patriots?

Zack Taylor is just refusing to rule Joe Burrow out. Is he going to return against a Patriots? Let’s break down the pros and cons in today’s Locked on Bengals. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast part of the Locked On podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network out there. I’m Jake Liscoco. He’s James Renee and together we are Locked on Bengals covering your Cincinnati Bengals since 2016. Your best place to get all of your Bengals information in one stop anywhere. And today we dive into the potential return of Joe Burrow. the amount of smoke building around Zack Taylor making media appearances, not saying no when asked if Joe Burrow would return this week. And he was a full go in practice on Wednesday, further stoking those speculative flames. That’s where we start in that whole conversation. And then there are pros and cons and a Patriots matchup that is certainly going to be difficult even if Joe Burrow is out there for the Bengals this week. But James, it started with the press conference for Zack Taylor on Wednesday and I joked about this. It was it was 95% a joke on Monday about like, h maybe he comes back this week. And now here we are. And I should not have been so significantly jokey about that topic apparently on Monday. You shouldn’t have. And and for those that listen to our crossover yesterday, I didn’t want to beat the dead horse, but I mentioned it a few times with Nick of Locked on Patriots because I thought this might be a topic like I thought because the more you think about it and the more you think about Joe Burrow and I think I at this point year six of covering Joe Burrow, you at least have an idea of how he thinks. You’ve gone through these injuries with him before. I remember telling him without really any it’s not like he told me I told him like hey this is when I think you’re going to return from the calf injury a few years ago and he was like you might you might be close on that and it was literally dead on and it was you and I had talked about it and it’s just you can kind of read the tea leaves and I I think that’ll come up in our our potential cons is that history of what happened with the calf and and everything that went with that but given where they are given their situation If you’re Joe Burrow, don’t you want to be playing for something? And everyone has dismissed the Bengals already and and you and I both don’t we don’t think they’re going to the playoffs. That Latin vacation is very much alive for Jake Loco. Like we know that sponsor it right now so he can podcast on the road in mid mid January from wherever he wants to go. Maybe I’ll go with you. But if if they were going to go on this improbable run, this fairy tale run, this Disney movie type of run, it would have to start on Sunday. It can’t start in Baltimore now. It has to start Sunday. his team, his coaching staff, they didn’t give him enough rope, enough room to maneuver to wait until the end of his return window and be activated December 1st if he wants to play for something meaningful. And so coming into this week, I think it was very clear and indicative of the fact that Zack Taylor uh didn’t dismiss the idea when he talked before practice. Said, “Hey, we haven’t seen him practice yet, but he didn’t say Joe Flacco is starting.” And then two, Joe Burrow goes out there, practices in full, Flaco limited. That was by design. Flaco is going to be limited. I think Thursday, we’re recording this before Thursday’s practice. I think the juggle there is going to be interesting. And then and I have audio here, Jake. You didn’t know about this. I have audio. Zack Taylor shows up on 700 WLW as he does every Thursday and he talks with Tom Brenamman and my guy Andrew Fox Miller chopped this up for us. Uh 50 seconds of Zack Taylor going back and forth about Joe Burrow’s status with Tom Brenamman. Is there a chance that he plays Sunday? Well, I’m not there yet. You know, it’s one day of practice um isn’t going to lead to that decision yet. So, we’ll use the time we have at our disposal and and come with the best decision we can. You have to make a decision and you’ll consult with others. But will this be a situation where Joe might come into you, Joe Burrow, he might come to you and say, “Hey, you know, coach, I feel like I’m ready to go.” Oh, yeah. Yeah. That’s Yeah. And then that’s that’s that’s my job, you know, to balance balance all the information and protect the player and and make the best decision possible. You can tell us right now. Burrow’s playing it. He’s playing it. Yeah. No, I wish I could. I I wish I had that decision today. You know, honestly, it’s it’s I’m going to take in all the information I can and make sure it’s the best one for for Joe and our team and and we’ll go from there. So, so undecided Zack Taylor there, right? Still processing information, but certainly once again had an opportunity to say, “We saw him practice once and we think it’s going to take a couple more days.” didn’t take that opportunity to shut down the speculation, which means the speculation will continue until we get an answer. Yeah, that’s that’s it. And I I think we’ll get into the pros and cons like we’ve said a few times, but I think surface level I understand why Joe would be pushing now. And and here’s the other thing that we just need to accept at this point. Joe Burrow is going to play again this season. He will play again. it like it’s over. Like there’s no reason to debate it because it’s going to happen. He’s practicing in full. He’s out there like it it will happen. And so it’s really when when is it? Is it Sunday? Is it Thursday? Is it in the the following Sunday in Buffalo? It will be one of those three dates barring something really unforeseen. The Bengals know it. Joe Burrow knows it. Whether or not it’ll be this Sunday, I think is is the debate now. And what does that mean for their chances to even win the game? I think that’s part of the conversation, too. Like, it’s a boost. Don’t get me wrong. We we’ve talked about this a couple times. Joe Burrow’s better than Joe Flacco. Yeah. But now you’re talking about a team that’s not going to have Jamar Chase and still has all these problems on the defensive side of the ball. And and that’s what you’re talking about. And it puts the Jamar thing incident suspension in an entirely new light if it’s like there’s a chance Joe Burrow is going to get back the next week against the Patriots and now you don’t have much space for this game. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it just makes it so much like just can’t even get anything to go quite right for you this year. But going back to the return and the idea of why it would have to be this week or why Joe Burrow might be feeling pressure for it to be this week despite we we don’t know whether that toe is 90% 80% we we we have no idea where he’s at in the recovery, right? We do know that he’s talked about wearing a plate in his shoe, protective footwear. Uh sneaker heads have told me that he’s wearing different cleats and and isn’t wearing the same shoes that he was wearing before. which maybe you can comment on too, James. I don’t know. I’m not paying that much close attention to Joe’s shoes, but they had all these chances to buy themselves a little bit of wiggle room and and maybe Joe has a different mindset if they had won against the Jets andor Bears or or just one one more game. If Jake Browning doesn’t do what Jake Browning did for three games and they sneak one out against Minnesota or or whatever, they get Joe Flacco a week earlier or or something like that and and manage to win a game sometime in there. If they’re two wins better, if they’re five and five right now instead of three and seven, how different does this whole conversation feel? How different does Joe Burrow feel about the pressure to return and and how much of a factor? Remember when Joe Barrow said, “We’ll see how the team does in the next couple of weeks.” Yep. Well, maybe what that really meant and and now it’s looking more that way is like, well, if they lose, I might have to just come back a little bit earlier and give myself a shot at this thing. Yeah. And I I think I think I have the answer. What if they were five and five going into Sunday? I will share that answer and we’ll dive into the pros and cons of Joe Burrow coming back potentially as early as Sunday. Coming up next, today’s show is brought to you by Prize Pick. Prize Picks is daily fantasy the way it should be. You and I make decisions every day. Joe Burrow makes decisions. Well, being right with Prize Picks can get you paid. You got to make the right calls. And if you haven’t tried it yet, prize Pix is the simplest way to play. All you do is pick more or less on at least two player stats. If you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup. And you can play anywhere Price Picks operates, including California, Texas, Georgia. All you have to do is pick a couple. Let’s say Joe Burrow does play this week. Boom. You pick more or less on his Price Pick projections for passing yards, passing touchdowns. Maybe combine that with a little T. Higgins, more or less receiving yards or receiving touchdowns. By the way, if T. Higgins scores a touchdown on Sunday, Jake, it will be a record, a Bengals record. I believe it’s his ninth straight home game with a touchdown. if he can get it done. All you have to do to get in on all the fun is download the Price Picks app today. Use code locked on NFL. You’ll get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, that’s code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup prize picks. It’s good to be right. Jake, let’s get into if they were five and five right now. I think if they were five and five or even four and six, let’s just say they win the Jets game. Joe probably waits until Thursday night. You saw his face light up last week when Jay Morrison asked, “Hey, how meaningful would it be to come back for Baltimore?” And and so I think that was his target all along. Clearly, I think he will play Thursday night. I think worst case scenario, Joe is on the field Thursday night. And here’s why I would play him Sunday. And I’m pretty much in the boat of not playing him period, right? But they are going to. So, I that like if if they’re going to play him period in in probably Thursday period, I I’m pretty confident in that right now. Here’s why I would play him a few days early. There’s no difference. They do nothing from Sunday to Thursday. He’s not going to get one valuable practice rep. He’s not going to get any extra anything. The the the Tuesday practice that they have is the easiest walkthrough ever that you could fly. You could take a red eye from where you are and it’s like two flights, four helicopter rides, a ferry ride, and a bunch of other stuff to get from the island you’re at to where I’m at here in Cincinnati and you could do all of that. Go straight to this walkthrough that they’re going to have Tuesday and participate and be fine. It is a nothing burger. And so as long as they think he can recover from a health standpoint from Sunday to Thursday, which I don’t think that would be in doubt, otherwise he wouldn’t be in considering playing, then you might as well give him a shot to salvage the season. You might as well give him that opportunity because I do think at this point they won’t say it, but I can. I think it’s inevitable that he is playing against Baltimore. And if that’s the case and he’s good to go and he is throwing the ball well in 11 on 111 and he is and all of the limitations that he’s going to have Thursday when you bring him back, he’s going to it’s going to be the same on Sunday. I would put him out there Sunday with a chance to get to to five and seven in a four and a half day span. That that that’s me. If you were doing it, if you have resigned yourself to I’m playing Joe Burrow, he’s playing well then you the the four days to me does not make any difference and I haven’t found anyone that has really pushed back on that. I talked to a few players on Wednesday like, hey, if you play Sunday and you’re dealing with something, you’re going to be all right by Thursday. And like Mike Cassiki is another example of it. And I and I think they all view it as if I can play, I’ll play and I’ll be able to to get back for that Thursday game and be right for that Thursday game. Only thing I would say, and this is a total unknown, is how much healing can happen in four extra days from Sunday afternoon to Thursday night, how much additional healing, what percentage, if he’s say at 87% now. How many percents do you just just to make it easier to understand, how many percents do you get in four days? Does it get to 90%? Does it get to 92%. Does it go from 93% to 96%. That’s my question essentially is how much does four extra days of treatment and rehab and not being in a game setting where I’m sure they’re doing plenty to try to simulate the reactions and and force that will go through that joint in practices and in in Joe’s rehab to see how it will react. None of those things are going to exactly replicate a game situation where maybe there’s a a 300lb man holding his other leg or whatever it is like he injured it the first time and I know that they’ve got the the protective stuff an issue but the the thing to me entirely boils down to how risky is it and the thing with turf toe is I don’t think doctors ever know which is why you see guys come back from this and aggravate this injury all the time and I’m not saying this to fear fearmonger. I have no idea what Joe’s risk of reinjury is. Mhm. But it’s it’s really hard. It seems really hard to me from the outside looking at the history of this injury around the league for guys to return from this injury at a time and and really have an understanding of what their risk of reinjury is. And so absent all that information, that’s just like a well, I think I’ll be okay. like it kind of is it’s gonna come down to vibes so much and how Joe feels and how confident he is and obviously the medical information will be a factor here, but there there’s going to be some version of an educated guess when Joe comes back to the field this year. No doubt. And and so that’s that’s what’s so tough and this is a 180 for me because if you would have asked me Sunday, I would have said don’t bring him back. But they just they are well you still have that opinion but we know that that’s not their plan. So like correct they’re going to bring him back talking about it in that reality. Yeah. And and that’s it. It’s like all right. So if that’s happening, if he’s definitely going to play, let’s use your percentages. What if it’s 93% to 93 and a half%. What if four days is really Yeah. Exactly. If it’s nothing then and it might not to me and this is me. I don’t think it’s much because he’s not going to do much. It’s it’s because I I think that part of the healing process for Joe especially is feeling out what he can do and can’t do. And there’s going to be no practices in there. And again, as unlikely as it is, if you are salvaging your season, because I tried to put myself in in his brain, he’s probably like five days to go from three and seven to five and seven with two huge wins. and then I can put my foot up and relax for a few days and and then get back at it with a a huge matchup in Buffalo. Like I I think that’s that would be kind of the approach. And I know it’s insane to say like from a football standpoint, the team you’ve watched over the past two plus months going one and seven without Joe Bro. I I’m not trying to lead people down the the pike of, oh well, I think that Joe’s going to do this. Like, this would be like a fairy tale, super hero, superhuman, just crazy thing, especially without Jamar Chase. Kind of like if if last year had worked out like if they had if they had gotten snuck in last year. That’s what we’re talking about again this year, except the defense was even worse. in the the upcoming opponent. I mean, this month, so you have the nine and two Patriots, arguably the best team in the NFL, and you could debate that, but they’ve won eight straight, then you go on the road Baltimore four days later, then you go to Buffalo, then you welcome Baltimore here. Like, that’s a hell of a month. That’s why it’s so painful losing some of these games they’ve lost is because this month stretch is brutal. Yeah. But to to your point, the season really ended last year and we kind of felt it when they lost to the Steelers on December 1st to fall to 4 and8. If they win that game and instead of four and eight that they’re five and seven and they keep that loss number at seven, which is where they’re at now, they make the playoffs, they go on that run, they complete it. And I I I don’t think Joe ha has forgotten that is how well they were playing down the stretch, how close it was and and if they had just made one or two more plays against Pittsburgh, well then they win six straight and they’re flying high going in to that uh that match up. By the way, that would have been two wins over Pittsburgh, which is what they certainly would need to do over this stretch. Two wins over Baltimore, two wins over a division rival, one on the road, one at home to do it. I mean, it it’s it’s Mount Everest for sure with with turftoe, but uh I I do think that Joe is going to push to play. Whether or not he gets the the okay and the sign off from everyone is is the question. Yeah, I mean the quality of opponent difference certainly worth noting. The defense is one worse this year and two last year down the stretch they were playing the Dallas Cowboys, the Tennessee Titans, the Cleveland Browns, the Denver Broncos, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. And obviously the the big test there was Denver and and that Pittsburgh game came came down to a 19 to 17 final score, but that Dallas team didn’t even have their quarterback. I mean, that’s a Cooper Rush game. So, a little bit tougher this year. And one of those games is Thursday night on the road in the division. And we’ve talked a lot about the history of those matchups. The Bengals obviously the third straight year going to Baltimore on Thursday night. We complained about that when we saw the schedule. It remains a complaint now for for the team from a football perspective, a competitive advantage perspective. But I mean, it’s going to be that’s that’s the TV that they want. That’s why they put it on Thursday night. it will be potentially very dramatic. Now, if they lose against New England, then it it becomes a lot less exciting that the ramifications become a little bit smaller for that game. And it’s still a really tough game this weekend because there’s no Jamar Chase, because of the state of the defense, because of the way New England is coming into this game, just on fire. And so I think that have we gotten through the pros and cons? We haven’t really gotten to the pros and cons yet. I I mean I I guess so. The the pros you can potentially resurrect things in five days and Joe gives you the best shot to do that. The con is if he reinjures it, it’s a nightmare. But I I think that con my my argument would be the con is the same on Sunday as it is Thursday. We’re not talking about Thursday after Christmas. We’re talking about Thursday as in a week from now from today, you know, wild. It’s w I know it sucks. This season sucks because because like it’s exciting and I I think he looked pretty good in practice. So, it’s like and then there’s just all the caveats that we’ve been talking about all season and we have to talk about again. Bengals facing the Patriots. Will they have Joe Burrow? Will they not have Joe Burrow? We’ll wrap up this show. thinking about that game and if there’s an announcement about Joe Burrow, we’ll have to be back and talking to you about it. But we we’ll continue that conversation here coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by Game Time. Game Time, well, it’s the app that’s going to be perfect for you. Let’s say you’re like, you know what, if Joe Burrow plays on Sunday, I want to be there. I want to watch the return against the Patriots as he tries to go up against an MVP candidate in Drake May and a team that’s won eight in a row. My goodness, can you imagine the story lines there? Well, Game Time is the place to go to get your tickets. It’s the app that gives the advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, backed by the Game Time guarantee, and you’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time at the best price. And my favorite part is all fees are included. So, the price you see is the price you pay from panoramic views directly from your seat to the easiest and best price on tickets. Download the Game Time app today. Create an account. Use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code Local. Locked on NFL for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket go download game time today. Have you been paying attention to the odds of the Bengals Patriots game? Yeah. Yeah. It’s been all week. I remember you you asked me what I thought it was earlier this week and I thought it was 10 and what was it? Seven and a half at that point. Yep. What is it now? Have you Have you looked? Is it down to six? I think it’s in the six range. Last time I checked FanDuel, it was in the six range. I can look here. I I was just amused by a couple of things. One, six and a half. Six and a half. Yep. So, it’s creeping that way. Overunder went up by two, I believe. Yeah, the the overunder is the highest in the NFL this week, unfortunately. Uh Joe, without Chase. Yeah. Um, but the Bengals offense has obviously been productive and the Patriots defense is is not the strength of the team right now. Although it’s it’s not terrible by any means. It is not the the strength of the team. The Begels defense is terrible, though. So, the Begels are giving up all those points. And this is the best offense they’ve played since, I don’t know, Detroit. And Detroit wasn’t exactly tested on offense in that game. So, could be fireworks in this game. But even if Joe Burrow returns, I mean, how are you stopping an offense that is the best you’ve faced in quite a while? How does Joe Burrow impact the defense? How does Joe Burrow help this defense deal with Drake May and Trayvon Henderson and Kahan Booty and Stefan Diggs and M. Holland and Hunter Henry and all these guys, man. I mean, this is an offense that has found production everywhere. Yeah. And Joe Burrow doesn’t help on that side of the ball. Yeah. Maybe energetically. He doesn’t, but you’re you’re really grasping his straws if you’re talking about an energetic impact. Gino Stone, I don’t think, is going to be benched this week. He should be. He should be benched. They should have someone else in there. You’re not going to bench the rookie linebackers, but clearly looking back, they they pulled the the put in the young guy Barrett Carter too soon in my eyes. Maybe we see a little bit more Orin Burks. I don’t know. They they need to to see what they have there. Obviously, they activated Dejan Anthony and and Mike Cassiki. We’ll see if they play this week. I’m not sure. I I think Gassiki has a real shot to be honest with you. I’m not sure about Dejon. They’re they’re so weird at safety. Like, I don’t get it. Like Tyson Anderson, I don’t think this is the case, by the way. But the only excuse they have for not even trying him at safety and giving him some snaps is he can’t guard a tree, which I know he can. A tree like a tree that can’t move. That that that is it because I know he can tackle. There’s some big trees out there, James. That could be a size mismatch. Yeah, I guess so. Right. Like it’s it’s it’s unbelievable that that they haven’t given any of the, you know, PJ Jules, Tyson Anderson. Obviously, now you have Dejon Anthony uh cleared for practice. So, we’ll see. But, but that’s got to be part of it here is like maybe Gino Stone just plays 60% of the snaps. You maybe you cut into it a little bit and then on on big passing downs if you trust him more than you put him out there. Like whatever the case is, that should be some of what they tinker with. But you’re right, like defensively they let Mason Rudolph dump it off and get a bunch of gains and complete 75% of his passes. Now you have a guy in Drake May who is physically better than any of the quarterbacks that you’ve seen in how long? I mean, he’s better than Rogers. He’s better than Yeah. since probably since Jordan Love, like physically and even then may have a little bit more to him. So, this is uh this is a tough ask obviously without Trey Hendrickson. And uh the other thing I’m looking forward to and and hopefully I talked to Miles yesterday. I said, “Man, that might be your coming out party. You got to keep it up.” He was like, “You’re right. I got to do it again.” All right, brother. Do it again. Big big week for for Miles Murphy. And doing it against harder competition for sure. Will Campbell having a standout rookie year, especially in pass protection at left tackle for the Patriots. On the other side, it’s Morgan Moses who is beatable if you’re Miles Murphy, but Morgan Moses at 36 years old still doing it. How many years have we talked about Morgan Moses as a potential tackle solution for the Cincinnati Bengals as they were looking for tackles for so long in in offseasons over the years? and Morgan Moses’s name has come up at least until they drafted Amarius Mims and and maybe even that year it’s like yeah Morgan Moses sure you would take him while Amarius is learning and and they ended up going with Trent Brown that year a different tackle associated with the Patriots as Morgan Moses now is who’s going to tackle better you know like is it Miles Murphy that is just like yeah Miles Murphy’s going to be the guy that he he has broken out we’ll see if that continues this week I I hope it has we spent a lot of time this on the film episode talking about how good Miles Murphy was against the Steelers. And it’s not just pass rush, it was also his his motor, the way he finished plays, his awareness and and tracking guys down after they caught the ball too a couple of times or or or the hustle plays. DJ Turner, can he have a nice bounceback game? Can they manufacture a takeaway or two? They they seem to have a that that’s always that the wild card for a bad defense is like can you can you steal one and that probably is required. It is. I know they I know they got some some stops against the Steelers last week. They they had Aaron Rogers in a bit of hell in that first half quite frankly. Uh the pressure was significant. It’s just this this isn’t old man Rogers and weaponless offense on the other side. This is young Drake May who has some and I know this is going to sound crazy has some Joe Burrow to his game in terms of escapability in the pocket. It is hard to get him to the ground when you get to him in the first place which is a question for this defense with a number of weapons where he is comfortable throwing the ball that can beat you. Yep. So that that’s your challenge this week. Yeah. And the turnovers is the path the the turnover element here. But you also just have to do the basic stuff like you’re going to have to tackle or Tayvon Henderson and uh RARE Stevenson are going to have huge games. I mean who thought Kenneth Gainwell last week was going to be the leading receiver for the Steelers, right? Can we we we wouldn’t have said that and yet he was. Darnell Washington had the longest catch of the game, 31 yards. Like that can’t happen. You can’t have that type of effort. I don’t care if D, By the way, did you see that podcast? He weighs 311 pounds. Yeah. We don’t care. make an effort. Effort. I that if Joe Burrow comes back and this defense doesn’t get effort, they should cut anyone that shows lack of effort. I’m serious. Just to be clear, they they should have anyway, but that that’s that’s a topic for another day. Like the attitude is something that can’t waver in in effort on some plays has certainly been questionable from a oh my gosh, I’m I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this guy gets on the ground. Like that should be their mindset. I don’t I don’t know how you can play defense and not feel that way each and every play. I wonder how much of a difference Joe Burrow makes on the offensive side of the ball, too. Like, I don’t I’m not sitting here to tell you that Joe Flacco is good compared to Joe Burrow. Joe Flacco has done nice things for this team. Here’s the caveats is like one, how well is he moving? Yeah. How how much is his escape ability part of the game? Two, who’s playing right guard? Jaylen Rivers didn’t practice on Wednesday. It should be Risner. Stylistically, I would rather have Daltton Risner at lifeguard with with Joe out there. Yeah. Even not stylistically, but especially when you consider the the way Jaylen Rivers loses and how that fits with Joe Burrow’s approach to playing the quarterback position. But the other factor here is we’ve seen Joe historically have these slow starts. We haven’t seen Joe return from an injury in season. So, is there a ramp up time the way that we have seen there be a ramp up time for Joe at the beginning of seasons in the past? Like, he hasn’t missed 10 games and then come, not 10 games, eight games and then come back. Yeah. So, so what kind of ramp up time is there for Joe before he’s really feeling it and and feels settled in from like the the timing of the game and yeah, how defenses are attacking them and all those things. Yeah, the the path I was thinking about it and like slow starts, return from injury, all of those things as you were talking. the game like the stylistic plan I would say for for the Bengals on offense would be what he did and what they did against the Vikings in 2021 when he’s coming off of the ACL he threw it 27 times not 47 27 he was 20 of 27 261 261 yards two touchdowns a 128.8 at quarterback rating. Joe Mixon had 29 rushing attempts and and there’s still very likely no Sam Per this week over and that’s another one. Samaj Pine had five rushing attempts. Both guys averaged 4.4 yards per carry. And so you need that kind of balance. Obviously they don’t have a Jamar Chase like they had then. But yeah, you you lean on T. Higgins, you lean on Chase Brown, maybe you get Gassiki back. You’re leaning on Noah Gaseiki if that’s the case. Obviously, Andre Yosvage, Mi Mitch Tinsley. I think those are the guys. I I’ve been asked about Germaine Burton. I don’t think if he’s active, I think it’ll be in a special teams role. I don’t think he’s necessarily going to be involved on offense. I think Charlie Jones is well ahead of him and uh would not shock me if Burton isn’t active again. He’s he’s it’s been a rough go of it, I would say, over the past few months for Germaine. That’ll certainly be received with total practicality. just being honest. Yeah. No, maybe question all week like is he active in the first place? I mean, we have talked about that since the beginning of the week since the suspension news came out for uh for Jamar. We’ll have you covered here as the Joe Burrow story continues to develop on Lockdown Bengals. We’ll have you covered of course after the game as well if nothing does develop with Joe Burrow. But if you’re paying attention to the Bengals, and you are, if you’re listening to this podcast at the 32-minute mark, you certainly have your eyes on news around Joe Burrow that could emerge Friday afternoon, Saturday. We got you. We got you. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Who day and have a good

Cincinnati Bengals face a turning point as Joe Burrow eyes a dramatic return from turf toe against the surging New England Patriots. With Zac Taylor refusing to rule out Burrow, can the Bengals engineer a playoff miracle while missing key playmaker Ja’Marr Chase? The team’s playoff hopes and Burrow’s health hang in the balance.

Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down Burrow’s potential impact, the pros and cons of his comeback, and how the Bengals’ struggling defense will handle Drake Maye and the Patriots’ explosive offense. The episode examines injury updates, defensive shakeups, and the critical question: Is this fairy-tale comeback even possible?

0:00 – Burrow’s Potential Return Debate
Discussion around Zach Taylor’s refusal to rule out Joe Burrow for the Patriots game, early speculation based on practice reports, and media messaging. Breakdown of the narrative, pros and cons, and urgency created by the Bengals’ current season standing.

8:44 – Pros and Cons: Burrow Playing Now vs. Later
Deep dive into whether Joe Burrow should play Sunday vs. waiting for the Thursday night game against Baltimore. Examination of team medical decisions, Burrow’s health and risk calculus, and the impact on chances to salvage the season.

19:49 – Patriots Matchup & Defensive Concerns
Analysis of the matchup against the Patriots: challenges of facing a hot offense, Bengals defensive issues, and roster dynamics (injuries and suspensions). Includes tangible concerns about key defenders, tackling, and whether Burrow’s return meaningfully changes the outcome.

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