So Now What?

A few options for dealing with Saint Joe's calf, none of them appealing

(New York Post)

The mourning after is never pretty. Football fans get more emotionally entangled than fans of any other sport. Three hours couch-slouching or suite-dreaming can leave a fanatic ready for Jamaica and a hammock.

And that’s when their team wins.

The Bengals are 0-2, but any resemblance to last year’s 0-2 is coincidental. Joe Burrow was coming back from an appendectomy last fall. Unpleasant, but not impactful on his ability to throw a ball. Any hope fans could take from the offense’s promise in the 2nd half ended the moment Jake Browning started to warm up.

Burrow tweaked his right calf with 3:55 left. The Bengals never got the ball back, so no one knows who would have been taking snaps.

Muscle injuries are cantankerous things. They can feel healed when they’re not. Ever pulled a hamstring? I did one summer as 17-year-old playing driveway hoop. I did all the proper medical stuff, stayed away from running or playing ball, until a month into it, it felt fine.

The first time I played 1-on-1, I pulled it again.

Apparently, a calf strain is similar. I’m not a doc (or a basketball player) but here’s a decent description of the dilemma Burrow and the Bengals face. It’s offered by Mobster JP, whose creds on the subject are unknown. But this makes sense:

Mobsters, imagine you trying to drive a golf ball with a bad dominant leg because of a calf tear. No strength in your plant (back) leg means no stability in your ankle, hindered strength in the knee, no rotation in your hips, which means no power to transfer to your opposite leg for swing momentum. Where and how far will every ball go? Answer? Anywhere and not very because you can’t repeat your normal swing. Keep playing golf with that bad leg and you develop a hip problem trying to compensate.

Same with throwing a football which is why we saw so many sideline, all arm throws. There was barely a look downfield before The Inevitable threw those balls. It doesn’t matter that Joe is an elite level athlete. Anyone that has a bad calf can’t move the way they normally do.

In other words, if Burrow can’t get the calf fixed entirely, he might start compensating and hurt something else. Not to mention he’ll likely lose something off his fastball.

Opponents will see the blood in the water and will adjust their defenses accordingly. Already, Cleveland and Baltimore played soft coverage and were content to let Burrow have the underneath completions. The aerial circus isn’t just a big part of the Men’s offense, it’s a considerable slice of their identity.

Who are they if they aren’t Burrow-to-Chase?

As mentioned last night in This Space, the Bengals devoted six weeks to letting Burrow’s calf heal. That was undone in one play. It’s not as simple as sitting him a week or two. Even if they chose to put him on IR for four games, who’s to say he’ll be fully healed then?

That leaves a couple options:

Keep him out there, limit his practice time, treat the calf like the crown jewels and pray it heals before he tweaks it again.

Rest him v. the Rams, then at Tennessee and Arizona. The Rams are rebuilding, the Titans are eh, the Cardinals could be the worst team in the league. Squeeze out two wins with Browning, be a do-able 2-3 with Seattle coming to town. The back end of the schedule is a far bigger headache.

Or. . .

Put Burrow on 4-week IR and hope to stay within winning distance of the postseason.

What say you, Mobsters and doctors everywhere?

Now, then. . .