There's a familiar feel to this season in Cincinnati.
The Bengals struggled out of the gate and there's concern regarding Joe Burrow's health even though he says all is fine and dandy.
Burrow took care of the latter on Wednesday after video of the quarterback working out his wrist during Cincinnati's Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots drew concern and conversation.
"Yeah, I'm doing that all the time," Burrow told reporters. "When you're coming back from an injury you're always trying to keep the joint loose. That's part of ligament injuries. If you don't move it, you're going to lose it. So, I'm always moving it around, keeping it loose, keeping my mobility the way it's supposed to be, so it's going to continue to happen. I do it at home, I do it here, I do it all the time."
Sunday's 16-10 upset loss to the New England Patriots dealt the Bengals their third consecutive Week 1 defeat. Last year, Cincinnati went 0-2 to begin the season as Burrow was clearly limited by a calf strain, an ailment that he didn't miss any time to deal with. However, Burrow did miss the final seven games of the season after he tore a ligament in his wrist.
Having been a full-go through training camp, Burrow has been on all four of the Bengals' injury reports so far this season as a full participant dealing with a right wrist issue.
He's finding progress with it, though.
"It feels great, feels better this week than it did last week, than it did the week before, so it's continuing to do better," the 2022 Pro Bowler said.
Nonetheless, Burrow's performance against the Pats was hardly vintage Joey Franchise. He was 21 of 29 for 164 yards, no touchdowns and averaged just 5.6 yards per attempt. He rarely went downfield and was pressured on just six of 35 dropbacks, the third-lowest rate (17.1%) he's faced in a game during his career, per Next Gen Stats. But he hardly turned it into success and attempted only six passes of over 10 air yards, according to Next Gen.
He was emphatic that his wrist wasn't limiting his deep throws, though.
"No, absolutely not," Burrow said.
The scrutiny reached levels of many speculating on how Burrow picked up a Gatorade bottle and drank while sitting on the bench.
"I picked it up weird?" he said. "I don't know. I drank water. Can't say I have seen that or know what anyone is talking about."
Slow starts and injury worries are all too familiar for Burrow and the Bengals.
Up next, Burrow and Co. will face the archrival Kansas City Chiefs. Just how the QB and his squad play on Sunday is likely to determine if the questions and concerns persist about his wrist and his play.
