Cincinnati Bengals

Fans showed support for Joe Burrow after his season-ending knee injury Sunday with a heavy push of donations to the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund:

The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was in the midst of a strong rookie season after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL draft. Unfortunately, he reportedly suffered a torn ACL during Sunday's loss to the Washington Football Team, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 

Burrow also indicated his season was over:

There were still positives as fans showed support to his charity, which partners with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to provide food for those in need.

Burrow first got involved with the organization after his 2019 Heisman Trophy speech, when he discussed food insecurity where he grew up. It led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, which has continued to help those throughout Southeast Ohio.

The knee injury suffered by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is apparently season-ending, according to Burrow himself.

The rookie, who was taken down early in the third quarter of the Bengals' loss to Washington on Sunday, tweeted an update as the game neared the final minutes:

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the initial diagnosis for Burrow is a torn ACL, though there could be additional damage.

Burrow was 22-of-34 for 203 yards and a touchdown with a fumble as the Bengals led 9-7 at the time of his injury.

The 23-year-old ranked 10th in the league in passing yards entering Sunday. He finishes with 2,688 yards and 13 touchdowns against five interceptions, leading the Bengals to a 2-7-1 record in 10 starts.

Joe Reedy of the Associated Press noted that Burrow entered Sunday with 72 hits, tied with New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones for the most by a rookie quarterback through nine games since 2000.

The first overall pick in this year's draft, Burrow led LSU to a national title last fall after transferring from Ohio State in 2018.  

Ryan Finley, whom the Bengals drafted in the fourth round in 2019 out of NC State, filled in under center, finishing the day with three completions on 10 attempts for 30 yards and one interception. He also had one 19-yard rush. The 25-year-old saw time in three games last season (all starts), when he posted 474 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 41-of-87 passing.

Per the team's depth chart, there are no other quarterbacks rostered.

Cincinnati Bengals rookie Joe Burrow was carted off of the field Sunday after what has reportedly been diagnosed as a torn ACL sagainst the Washington Football Team.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the diagnosis, adding "there may be additional damage." Burrow sustained the injury after taking a hit to his leg and had to be carted off the field.

Afterward, Burrow confirmed he'll miss the rest of the season in a post on his Twitter account:

The Bengals are betting big on Burrow as the face of their franchise. They selected him No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL draft after he won the Heisman Trophy and led LSU to the national championship this year. 

Given the roster around Burrow, his performance has to be considered promising for the future. Heading into Week 11, he had completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 2,485 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions through nine games. 

Burrow entered the NFL with sky-high expectations thanks to his performance at LSU last season. The Ohio native won virtually every major individual award for an FBS player, and he set FBS single-season records with 60 touchdown passes and a 202 passer rating. 

Cincinnati left no doubt that Burrow would be the team's Week 1 starter when it released longtime starter Andy Dalton in April. He took over a team coming off a 2-14 record and ranked 30th in scoring offense in 2019. 

Losing Burrow will be devastating for head coach Zac Taylor, who was trying to get his new quarterback acclimated to the offense. Second-year quarterback Ryan Finley will likely take over as Cincinnati's starter for the time being. 

Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon's lingering foot injury has landed him on injured reserve. 

The Bengals announced the roster move Saturday.

Mixon, 24, had already been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Washington Football Team. He originally injured his foot in Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Prior to the injury, Mixon was having a solid season with 566 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns on 140 touches in six games. 

The young running back has established himself as a key part of Cincy's offense and one of the better players at the position, exceeding 1,100 rushing yards in both the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. He's generally remained healthy, missing just four total games in his first three seasons. 

His loss is a big one, though the Bengals have a solid backup in Giovani Bernard, while Samaje Perine could see some run as well. 

The Bengals may also lean more heavily on Joe Burrow and the passing game, with Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green and Tee Higgins offering up a solid slate of weapons through the air. 

The Bengals aren't better without Mixon in the lineup, but they have the tools to still be solid without him. 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took the blame for his team's 36-10 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, citing his second-half performance in particular.

"I played terrible in the second half," Burrow told reporters, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

Burrow finished the game 21-of-40 with 213 passing yards and one touchdown. However, he went just 5-of-12 for 24 yards in the second half, with only one completion going over five yards.

The Bengals trailed 22-7 at halftime and fell behind 36-7 in the fourth quarter, but Burrow did not leave the field.

"Yeah, I'm not a quitter," Burrow said.

"I'm not going out of the game. Doesn't matter if we are down 100, down 10, down 20. I'm not going out."

The Bengals struggled on both ends of the ball against a tough 9-0 Steelers team that led by 12 or more points for the final 37 minutes of the game. However, Burrow still pointed the finger at himself.

"I was talking on the sideline, we are in that game if I don't suck in the second half. And I don't suck a lot," Burrow added.

Cincinnati may have encountered trouble moving the ball in the second half, and the team also went 0-of-13 on third down.

However, the Bengals pass defense allowed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to throw for 333 yards and four touchdowns. The Steelers' wideout trio of Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster combined for 19 catches, 249 yards and four touchdowns.

The Bengals fell to 2-6-1 with the defeat after upsetting the six-win Tennessee Titans the week before.

Burrow and the Bengals will look to bounce back when they visit the Washington Football Team on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.  

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver John Ross III has been placed on injured reserve after suffering a foot injury during Thursday's practice.

After previously reporting the injury occurred while Ross was attempting to convert to cornerback, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network clarified the injury was suffered while the wideout was running routes in practice:

Garafolo initially reported Ross agreed to try his hand at corner because both Darius Phillips and LeShaun Sims will miss Sunday's game because of injury, while practice squad cornerbacks Winston Rose and Brian Allen are out as well after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Ross has struggled to reach expectations since the Bengals selected him in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. He recorded just 21 catches across his first two seasons, and his numbers didn't take a significant jump during the 2019 campaign despite the absence of top target A.J. Green.

He finished with 28 receptions for 506 yards and three scores.

The 25-year-old University of Washington product's development has been slowed by health setbacks. He suffered knee and shoulder injuries that limited him to three appearances as a rookie and then missed three games during his second season and eight games last season.

Ross has been a healthy scratch for much of this season, appearing in just three games and making two catches for 17 yards.

Ross' absence won't have much of an impact on the Bengals receiving corps since Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and Green remain the top three wideouts on the depth chart, with Auden Tate also pitching in.

The Cincinnati Bengals added another first-rounder to their depth chart, claiming Takkarist McKinley off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons.

The club announced the move in a Wednesday afternoon tweet.

A defensive end from UCLA, McKinley was the 26th pick in 2017. He recorded 76 tackles, 17.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 49 games with Atlanta.

McKinley did not leave Atlanta quietly.

The 25-year-old apparently caught wind of trade talks the Falcons were having about him and tweeted that team management were clowns when he was not moved before the deadline.

He was placed on waivers less than a week later.

That was good news for the Bengals, who added an experienced—albeit underperforming—defender to their rebuild.

Cincinnati owns the seventh-worst defense in the league (400.9 yards allowed per game) and is tied for the seventh-most touchdown passes allowed (17). It has recorded just 11 sacks, tied for the fifth-fewest.

The Bengals will try to advance McKinley's development in a low-risk, high-reward situation. The move could turn mutually beneficial if McKinley cashes in after a disappointing start to his career. He will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason after the Falcons declined his fifth-year option.

The Cincinnati Bengals announced Friday that two of their players have tested positive for COVID-19:

Cincinnati is on a bye this week, but the team noted that its players will be tested daily and will not return to the team facility until next week.

The Bengals have already surpassed their record from last season, as they are 2-5-1 thanks largely to the play of rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals are coming off their biggest win of the season as well—a 31-20 victory over a Tennessee Titans team that previously had only one loss.

When the Bengals return from their bye, they are scheduled to face the currently undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 15 in a game that will be a significant measuring stick for Cincinnati.

It is unclear which players tested positive for COVID-19, but because of the timing of their positive tests, it remains possible that they could be cleared in time to play against Pittsburgh.

Although the Bengals are in last place in the competitive AFC North, they have been playing quality football recently. Prior to the win over Tennessee, they lost to the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns in back-to-back weeks by a total of just seven points.

They face an uphill climb in terms of reaching the playoffs, but the Bengals aren't out of it by a long shot, especially since there are seven playoff teams per conference this season rather than the traditional six.

Also, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to potentially cause the cancelation of some games this season, the NFL has discussed adding an eighth playoff team in each conference. If that happens, the Bengals' playoff chances will improve even more.

If Cincinnati is going to realistically contend for the postseason, it will need rookie No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow to continue playing at a high level.

Burrow is in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race, as he is completing 67.0 percent of his passes for 2,272 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while also rushing for three scores.

If the Bengals do find a way to reach the playoffs, it will mark the first time they have done so since 2015.

With half of his first NFL season in the books at 2-5-1, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is ready to keep the momentum going.

"I'm just scratching the surface of where I can be and where I can go," Burrow said Wednesday, according to ESPN's Ben Baby. "So, that's the most exciting thing for me." 

It's an impressive stance for the rookie, who was selected with the top pick out of LSU this winter, considering he ranks third in the league in passing yards (2,272), and if he keeps up his production through the second half of the season, he could break the 4,374-yard threshold—the record for most passing yards from a rookie, set by Andrew Luck in 2012. 

The defending collegiate national champion paces the NFL in passing attempts and completions (221-of-330) but manages to keep his cool amid a high margin for error, having thrown five interceptions on his way to 11 passing touchdowns. Against the Tennessee Titans in Week is 8, he threw for 249 yards and two scores and wasn't sacked. The lone interception he threw was called back for a Titans penalty. 

"Obviously, there's a lot to improve," Burrow said. "I'm nowhere near where I can be or need to be, but I think I'm off to a pretty good start."

As rookie quarterbacks make their marks on the NFL this season—with Justin Herbert earning the starting job for the Los Angeles Chargers even after a return from an injured Tyrod Taylor and Tua Tagovailoa getting the nod ahead of Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Miami Dolphins, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Monday he was "certainly glad" his team took Burrow to fill in for a released Andy Dalton under center. 

Cincinnati Bengals receiver John Ross is not expected to be moved ahead of Tuesday's NFL trade deadline, according to Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Per Dragon, the plan is for Ross to finish out his rookie contract with the Bengals and hit free agency after the season.

Cincinnati already sent Carlos Dunlap to the Seattle Seahawks once it became clear Dunlap wanted out of town. Ross took a similar approach ahead of the NFL trade deadline amid a disappointing season for him and the team as a whole:

Through three appearances, Ross has two receptions for 17 yards.

The Bengals selected the 24-year-old with the ninth overall pick of the 2017 draft. Even at the time, the pick looked like a bit of a reach.

Ross famously ran a 4.22-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he didn't have a strong body of work from his three years with the Washington Huskies. He caught 114 passes for 1,729 yards and 22 touchdowns in 40 games.

In his final big board ahead of the 2017 draft, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller ranked him as the 24th-best player overall and the third-best wideout.

Ross had a rookie year to forget. He picked up a knee injury in the preseason, appeared in three games and failed to make a single reception. He also received a public rebuke from then-head coach Marvin Lewis after slowing down on a deep passing route during a 24-20 defeat to the Tennessee Titans.

The 2018 season wasn't much better for Ross. He had 21 receptions for 210 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games. Out of 84 qualified receivers, he ranked 81st in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement), per Football Outsiders.

Ross looked to be turning a corner in 2019 after catching 11 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns in the first two weeks. Then he landed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury after four games. His overall production (28 catches, 506 yards, three touchdowns) wasn't too bad over what was effectively half a season.

Still, two developments showed the Bengals had little confidence in Ross going forward. They selected Clemson wideout Tee Higgins in the second round of the draft and declined Ross' fifth-year option for 2021. The latter is the surest sign a one-time first-rounder has failed to live up to expectations.

The Bengals have a well-earned reputation for being penny-pinchers, but they're generally willing to pay their own players whatever the going rate is. For example, Tyler Boyd had a breakout 2018, finishing with 76 receptions for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns. The team rewarded him with a four-year, $43 million extension.

Even if he remains with the team beyond the deadline, Ross seems to have no future in Cincinnati. The coaching switch from Lewis to Zac Taylor did little to solidify his place in the offense. Taylor represented a clean slate to some extent, yet nothing about the situation changed.

Now, it appears Ross will have to wait until next year for a fresh start elsewhere.