Watching Joe's play now vs how he played against the Steelers is a big indicator of just how much the appendectomy and the infection took out of him. Even a 25 year old elite athlete can't escape the effects of the systemic infection stemming from a burst appendix. An injury is easy compared to 6 days in the hospital, inability to eat, fevers, exhaustion, body aches.

The challenges from the Steelers game weren't just a bad line or lack of practice. He didn't play with his usual energy. He didn't move away from the pressure. How many of us commented that his throws were "off"

He may never admit it but his play was affected the first couple of weeks and most especially for game 1.

Its good to see him look like the Joe we know again these last couple of weeks

(10-25-2022, 02:20 PM)pally Wrote: Watching Joe's play now vs how he played against the Steelers is a big indicator of just how much the appendectomy and the infection took out of him.  Even a 25 year old elite athlete can't escape the effects of the systemic infection stemming from a burst appendix.  An injury is easy compared to 6 days in the hospital, inability to eat, fevers, exhaustion, body aches.  

The challenges from the Steelers game weren't just a bad line or lack of practice.  He didn't play with his usual energy.  He didn't move away from the pressure. How many of us commented that his throws were "off"

He may never admit it but his play was affected the first couple of weeks and most especially for game 1.  

Its good to see him look like the Joe we know again these last couple of weeks

While it's a convenient timing, the struggles were definitely football related. This was the exact same struggle Mahomes and the Chiefs went through last year. It also took then 3 or 4 games to figure out how they wanted to attack and also to stick to running to get folks out of it. The Bengals had no plan for the cover 2 shells they were getting early on. The concepts at times made little sense and there was 0 patience from play caller and QB to go on long drives. Now you watch this week and they are running scissor concepts, they are running trail routes, they are doing clear outs with replacements underneath, and they added the RPO more aggressively at times.

This is a case of growing as a young team and learning how to let your offense evolve.

I think the struggles were a combination of both.  Burrow definitely looked FLAT the first week, especially... so much so that it was genuinely concerning.

Agree that the surgery definitely hampered him early on and the team stinking did not help one bit.


But his back shoulder passes were way off target until lately. At times it looked like him and Chase had never even played with one another the way their chemistry was so off. Now he is hitting windows the size of toasters.

Not only is recovering from surgery taxing on the body, but missing all those reps does not allow him to perfect his timing which hurts too.

So glad to see him spry and back in rhythm.

One day Burrow will get a full training camp....

(10-25-2022, 03:39 PM)QueenCity Wrote: One day Burrow will get a full training camp....

Seems the universe is trying to hold him back, yet to no avail. 

(10-25-2022, 03:10 PM)Go Cards Wrote: Agree that the surgery definitely hampered him early on and the team stinking did not help one bit.


But his back shoulder passes were way off target until lately.  At times it looked like him and Chase had never even played with one another the way their chemistry was so off. Now he is hitting windows the size of toasters.

Not only is recovering from surgery taxing on the body, but missing all those reps does not allow him to perfect his timing which hurts too.

So glad to see him spry and back in rhythm.

I had the same surgery years ago.  The difference between an open surgery appendectomy and a laparoscopic appendectomy is pretty big.  Couple that with the fact that it sounds like he may have suffered from peritonitis and that's a pretty big deal.  I know for my open appendectomy it took a really long time for my core muscles to recover.  I'd imagine it's the same for most, even an elite athlete.  

(10-25-2022, 04:06 PM)Go Cards Wrote: Seems the universe is trying to hold him back, yet to no avail. 

Just giving the rest of the NFL a fair chance.

(10-25-2022, 02:32 PM)Tomkat Wrote: I think the struggles were a combination of both.  Burrow definitely looked FLAT the first week, especially... so much so that it was genuinely concerning.

Me too, in fact it was a perfect storm of several factors. The new Oline have very little practice together. Joe having little to no training camp/preseason. Joe's surgery threw a monkey in the wrench. Joe Mixon having whatever his funk was ? And I believe Zac Taylor and Co. struggled trying to figure out what to do.

They're getting it on track now.

Pisses me off this guy hasn't had a regular off season since he set foot in the league. That appendectomy couldn't have come at a worse time.

And it just wasn't an appendectomy. He's in record saying he had to have part of his intestines removed. It was a much much more serious procedure than routine appendectomy.

Burrow noted the challenges from the appendectomy:

Burrow said: "When they cut into you and do all that stuff, your core is going to lose some muscle and strength. Just working to get that back.”

“I just think my whole career has been coming back from speed bumps and adversity,” he said. “I don’t know anything else. It’s another speed bump in the way.”

When reading some of his comments, I came across another that shows his maturity:

"Wednesday, Sports Illustrated introduced its NFL preview issue with Burrow on the cover. The caption says “their ultracool QB has transformed the Bengals’ vibe.”

Burrow shrugged it off.

“It’s just something that comes with success that will go away without success,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

(10-25-2022, 04:14 PM)MickMack Wrote: I had the same surgery years ago.  The difference between an open surgery appendectomy and a laparoscopic appendectomy is pretty big.  Couple that with the fact that it sounds like he may have suffered from peritonitis and that's a pretty big deal.  I know for my open appendectomy it took a really long time for my core muscles to recover.  I'd imagine it's the same for most, even an elite athlete.  

100% and those core muscles are important when doing just about anything. Throwing a football is not exempt.

(10-25-2022, 04:44 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Me too, in fact it was a perfect storm of several factors. The new Oline have very little practice together. Joe having little to no training camp/preseason. Joe's surgery threw a monkey in the wrench. Joe Mixon having whatever his funk was ? And I believe Zac Taylor and Co. struggled trying to figure out what to do.

They're getting it on track now.

Brian, Zac, and Dan Picher have seen the Cover 2 and Tampa 2 all their lives. Joe not so much. I’ve heard it took Joe buying into the 10 play drives. Now they may have been stubborn in thinking they could still get the big play some. The analytics are identifying a ton of difference in Joe’s quicker releases.