Bengals QB Joe Burrow to have surgery on toe and miss 3 months: reports

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will undergo surgery on his injured left toe and is expected to be out for three months, according to The Associated Press and ESPN.

Burrow injured his toe during the second quarter of Cincinnati's 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. He was sacked by Jacksonville's Arik Armstead and went to the locker room after visiting the sideline medical tent.

He was later seen leaving the Bengals' locker room on crutches and wearing a boot on his left foot.

CBC Sports has not independently confirmed the reports.

The Bengals are not expected to make an announcement about Burrow's injury until coach Zac Taylor's news conference later Monday, The Associated Press reports.

It is Burrow's third major injury in his six seasons since being the top overall pick in the 2020 draft. A knee injury in his rookie season cost him six games, and a wrist injury in 2023 kept him out for the final seven games.

"It's tough right now. We're going to be OK. He's a strong guy," wide receiver Tee Higgins said. "We look forward to seeing what the results are."

Burrow's injury comes at an inopportune time for the Bengals. Cincinnati is off to its first 2-0 start since 2018 and has post-season aspirations after missing the playoffs the past two years.

The Bengals play at Minnesota next week to begin a stretch of five straight opponents that made the playoffs last year.

Jake Browning will be the starter in Burrow's absence. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions against the Jaguars.

Browning also scored the go-ahead touchdown with 18 seconds remaining on a 1-yard leap.

"He said, `Good job.' He was dealing with the injury, so it was brief," Browning said about his post-game conversation with Burrow.

Browning has played 13 games for Cincinnati and went 4-3 as the starter two years ago when Burrow was sidelined.

"I know it wasn't my best game, but we won, so Sundays are happy," Browning said. "But come Monday, we'll come in and get better."

Burrow led the NFL last season with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdown passes.