Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow Exits Thursday Night Football With Wrist Injury

The Cincinnati Bengals' 2023 season has already experienced dizzying highs and agonizing lows, but it may have suffered its most dramatic development so far. Quarterback Joe Burrow exited in the first half of Thursday Night Football's colossal AFC North showdown between the Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens and was promptly declared OUT with a wrist injury on his throwing arm.

QB Joe Burrow has been declared out. https://t.co/9gU5nZ5MqG
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 17, 2023

Burrow apparently exacerbated an existing hand injury after suffering a blow to the arm by Ravens edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney. He doubled over in pain following a touchdown pass to running back Joe Mixon and did not return.

Burrow, the league's highest-paid player, has been on a hot streak of late, leading the Bengals to a 4-1 record over his last five completed games after an ugly 1-3 start to the season. Coming into tonight, he had passed for an impressive 1480 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions over his last five starts.

The severity of Burrow's injury is not yet known, but the Bengals can ill afford an extended absence from the one-time Pro Bowler. Backup quarterback Jake Browning had never completed a regular season pass entering tonight's game and he showed little promise in relief duty, netting a mere 49 passing yards on 17 dropbacks.

Now at 5-5 following tonight's loss to the Ravens, the Bengals are last in the AFC North. With games against fellow AFC playoff hopefuls the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the next two weeks, the Bengals could quickly find themselves in a hole they can't dig themselves out of.