In his first news conference since he had an appendectomy in July, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow says his appendix ruptured, which prompted surgery.
The third-year quarterback continued his progress on Wednesday when he participated in team drills at practice for the first time since the procedure.
Burrow is looking to add weight and return his body to its pre-surgery form ahead of the team’s Week 1 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He said he is not expecting to play in the preseason. “I think it will be OK,” Burrow said. “We have a good plan as far as nutrition and weight room and all that stuff. I feel good right now and just going to keep feeling better.”
“It wasn’t normal appendicitis that you hear about,” Burrow said. “I didn’t really feel much. Just getting checked out and had some discomfort so we thought we’d get it checked out. Turns out I had it. So we had to get it fixed.”
While he was recovering Burrow watched practices from a medical cart. Even though he couldn’t participate, Burrow said he wanted to be with his teammates so he could mentally get back into the swing of things.
It is very evident that Burrow’s absence is affecting their chances of winning the Super Bowl, their future odds declines according to some sportsbooks. “You’re in a hospital for however many days and you start to feel like a sick person,” Burrow said. “So you want to get back out with the guys and feel healthy again.”
In 2020, his rookie preseason was upended by COVID-19 and featured no games. Last year, Burrow played one series in the preseason finale following major knee surgery that ended his rookie season.
“I’d like to have a normal offseason at some point,” Burrow said. “That would be great. Going into the season feeling as good as I can, but that hasn’t been the reality for three years. Make the most of what you got.
“We’ll try again next year.”
