Burrow hasn’t seen live action since Week 2, a game in which he suffered a toe injury that required surgery and a long trip back to the field. That process ended faster than originally planned, with Cincinnati activating Burrow’s 21-day return window on Nov. 10.
It appears he won’t need all 21 days to graduate to the active roster, a place the Bengals will happily (and desperately) welcome Burrow back with their playoff hopes on life support as Thanksgiving approaches.
Cincinnati has won just one game without Burrow in the starting lineup, a thrilling Week 7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in which 40-year-old Joe Flacco threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 win at Thursday night football. Otherwise, the Bengals are winless without Burrow, 1-7 in the eight games played without him.
Once activated, the Burrow will return to familiar challenges. As they did in 2024, the Bengals have continued to fail defensively, losing two games in which they scored 35 or more points while allowing a league-worst 33.4 points per game in 2025.
Burrow’s return won’t fix the defense but could raise their offensive ceiling, which fell to a new low with Flacco in the lineup in their 34-12 loss to the Steelers in Week 11. At this point, Burrow could represent Cincinnati’s only remaining hope of saving the 2025 season. We’ll see if he can play against the red-hot Patriots on Sunday, or if Cincinnati has to wait another week before welcoming him back.