The Bengals designated star quarterback Joe Burrow to return from injured reserve last Monday, opening up his 21-day practice window. That was nine days ago, so the team has 12 days to determine whether or not he will be activated this season. Things could be looking pretty good on that front, as Burrow appeared as a full participant on Cincinnati’s injury report today. 
In his first week back at practice, Burrow was able to participate in some noncontact 7-on-7 work and was still feeling good after getting back in the action. At the 7-day mark, head coach Zac Taylor laid out their goals for moving forward.
“This week, the plan will be: let’s get to Wednesday and see if we can work him in some 11-on-11 and go from there,” Taylor told the media, per Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Before we ever do that, there’s no reason to have a discussion on what the timeline is beyond that, because there are steps we have to follow.”
Two days later, Burrow did his assigned 11-on-11 work as a full participant in practice today. Burrow’s return to practice surprisingly hasn’t limited the team’s access to backup passer Joe Flacco, who’s still expected to start for Cincinnati against the Patriots this weekend. Flacco has been dealing with a right shoulder injury since Week 9. In every week that they’ve had a Sunday game since, Flacco has sat out Wednesday practice, been a limited participant in practice on Thursday, and sat out again on Friday before doing walkthroughs leading up to the game.
So, Burrow got the ball today as Flacco sat out per usual. Tomorrow is usually a limited day for Flacco, but the Bengals will obviously want him to get time with the first-team offense if he’ll be starting this week. Burrow still could get good amount of time with the first string if Flacco is limited as usual. Taylor wanted to get his star passer back in 11-on-11, and it looks like we’re getting more of that this week. Asked whether Burrow could start this weekend’s matchup with New England, Taylor replied, “Until we get through some practices, there’s no reason for me to even speculate on that.”
We already know that team and player both intend for Burrow to return despite the team’s long odds on a postseason berth, as long as he’s ready. With that in mind, this weekend’s game could be Flacco’s final start in front of the Cincinnati crowd. Following this weekend, Flacco should get another matchup against the team that drafted him — this time in a different shade of orange — before another road game takes the team to Buffalo.
The game against the Bills has been deemed the likeliest time for Burrow’s return, but there’s still a chance — slim as it may be — that he could get activated in time to go head-to-head against Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Jackson again in three straight weeks. There’s also a chance the team activates him but slow plays his return until they’re sure he’s ready to go. For now, though, Burrow continues to make insane progress in his return from an injury that many expected would end his season.