The Cincinnati Bengals’ season could be over after losing star quarterback Joe Burrow to injury, says Sky Sports NFL’s Jeff Reinebold.

Burrow is expected to undergo surgery and miss at least three months after suffering a turf toe injury during the second quarter of Sunday’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 28-year-old was replaced by back-up Jake Browning, who threw for 241 yards, two scores and three interceptions before rushing for a decisive one-yard touchdown in the closing stages.

The victory leaves the Bengals 2-0 for the first time since 2018, but at an enormous cost.

“He isn’t Burrow and never will be,” said Reinebold of Browning on Inside the Huddle. “The difficulty is, and it’s a lesson for a lot of teams, the Bengals pushed all their chips to the middle of the table offensively.

“You sign your wide receivers (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) and quarterback to huge money, you part with Joe Mixon because you wanted to put those resources into the receivers, and you don’t go out and get a back-up quarterback who at least at one time was a starter in the league.

“A Jameis Winston, a Marcus Mariota, those types of guys that can be a bridge guy when somebody goes out hurt.
I’m not knocking Jake Browning, he doesn’t have the experience the other veterans who are more expensive have, and they have to live with that.”

Burrow notably suffered a torn ACL during his rookie campaign before seeing his season ended by a wrist injury during 2023.

Browning went 4-3 as starter after stepping in to replace Burrow in 2023, keeping Cincinnati’s offense afloat but seeing the team fail to reach the playoffs while finishing bottom of the AFC North.

“They built this team to win throwing the football, they are not built to become a ball control, take time off the clock team,” Reinebold continued.

“I am really worried for Cincinnati and what we have heard is that it’s a surgery that would require up to three months out.

“You can kiss the season goodbye.”

The Bengals were made to pay for a slow start to the 2024 campaign, a five-game winning streak to finish the regular season proving irrelevant in the wake of their 4-8 record at the beginning of December.

Burrow entered the season having just led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, with star receiver Ja’Marr Chase clinching the triple crown of catches, yards and touchdown receptions for one of the league’s most explosive passing attacks.

Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds believes the Bengals may need to seek a replacement for Burrow if they are to keep their playoff ambitions intact.

“Jameis Winston is going to be a rollercoaster but has started a lot of games and is gathering dust on the bench in New York,” said Reynolds.

“Kirk Cousins is out there, potentially you might have to pay Atlanta a lot to get Cousins out. The Bengals may have to address that quarterback situation.”

Cousins is currently serving as the back-up quarterback in Atlanta after losing his starting spot to Michael Penix Jr last season.

The 37-year-old signed a four-year $180m with the Falcons just last year, with Atlanta having reportedly been looking for any prospective suitors this offseason to take on $20m of his deal.

Browning is now expected to start at quarterback for the Bengals when they face the Minnesota Vikings next weekend.

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