Bengals, NFL push idea that Joe Burrow didn’t have wrist problem before Week 11 injury

We’ll start this item by pointing out one very important reality as to any reporting from NFL Media regarding the investigation into whether the Bengals hid a wrist injury to quarterback Joe Burrow before the condition became specifically aggravated and exacerbated in a Week 11 game at Baltimore.

The NFL has every incentive to find that the Bengals did not violate the rules. If the Bengals get sued for fraudulently concealing the injury (to the detriment of any gamblers who bet on the Bengals in reliance on the representation that he was healthy), the NFL quite possibly gets a ticket to the litigation party, too, under the argument that the league has negligently failed to enforce its own rules.

Even if the NFL wouldn’t be sued directly, it’s not in the league’s interests to have any team sued for something like that.

Against that very important backdrop, NFL Media has buried at the bottom of an item regarding Burrow’s looming wrist surgery some information about the investigation regarding Burrow’s injury. It creates, to no surprise, the impression that the Bengals did nothing wrong.

“Sources familiar with the organization say the Bengals have turned in hours of footage to the NFL showing that Burrow was healthy prior to the game,” writes Ian Rapoport of NFL.com in an item posted Sunday morning. “According to those who have seen the footage, Burrow threw the ball normally during practice, without a brace and took all of his normal reps. It also includes documentation from medical personnel stating Burrow’s injury was ‘acute,’ as [coach Zac] Taylor has explained. It was not, the doctors say, an injury that happened over time, sources say.”

The article also says this: “Based on information turned over by the Bengals, Burrow received no treatment before practice and missed no time in preparation for the game against the Ravens, sources say.”

It would be easy to parse that language (e.g., what about treatment after practice?), but the Bengals will have an answer for any…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-nfl-push-idea-joe-133248639.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-11-26 13:32:48

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