The NFL is reportedly investigating the Cincinnati Bengals to see if they are in violation of the NFL’s policy on injury reports.
Joe Burrow’s wrist injury is what sparked the investigation. Burrow was spotted getting off the team plane in Baltimore with a black brace on his wrist. The Bengals removed their team footage of Burrow after posting it, fueling further speculation prior to the game. Burrow was not listed on the injury report leading up to the game.
How Joe Burrow’s injury unfolded
In the second quarter of the 34-20 loss, Burrow took a hit and injured his wrist and following the game, the team found out Burrow tore a ligament and will now miss the remainder of the season. Burrow insists the reason he was wearing the brace has nothing to do with the injury he suffered in the game.
The investigation will take time to complete. ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained the steps of the investigation on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“With Joe Burrow, what will happen is the league will go back and talk to Bengals’ officials about why he wasn’t on the report and what their explanation was,” Schefter said. “What the league can do is request the videos of those practices. Was he a full participant? Did he have any sort of limitations? The practices are on video. They are there to see. The league will, I would imagine, request the footage of those practices and get an idea of whether he was or wasn’t hurt.”
What’s the NFL’s injury report policy?
The NFL has a strict injury report policy in place. All 32 teams are mandated to release a practice report and it is to provide an accurate description of a player’s injury status and his level of participation during the practice week. All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the practice report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.
Violations of this rule are taken very seriously. Punishments can be either team or coach fines or even a lost draft pick. In 2019, the NFL fined the Pittsburgh Steelers $75,000 and coach Mike Tomlin $25,000 for violating the injury report policy by not accurately listing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for one practice report before their game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Schefter believes the fines could be even bigger this time around if any team violates the rule.
Burrow provided further explanation saying the black brace was a compression sleeve and it’s not “uncommon for guys to wear a compression sleeve on a plane because when you go up to that altitude, things can swell up.”
Schefter says the investigation from the NFL could take multiple weeks.
“The Bengals say they did nothing wrong and there are other people who believe they did,” he said. “It’s up to the league to determine what’s right and wrong.”
