Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was back to practice ahead of Monday’s showdown with the Rams

By MITCH STACY
AP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI (AP) — Quarterback Joe Burrow participated in practice on Friday, a good sign for the Cincinnati Bengals that a lingering calf injury may not keep him out of the Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Burrow walked to the practice field in full pads and afterward the team listed him as having “limited participation” in the session.

Burrow aggravated the right calf strain he suffered early in training camp in last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, Burrow said he was day to day and didn’t know at that point if he’d be able to play on Monday in Cincinnati.

Burrow strained the muscle on the second day of on-field workouts in training camp on July 27. That sidelined him for more than a month, depriving him of valuable preseason reps with the offense. The Bengals lost their first two games for the second consecutive season.

Receiver Tyler Boyd said Burrow’s teammates know the quarterback will do whatever it takes to play Monday.

“It makes you want to go beyond, and even further knowing that you got a guy like him who’s been through so much adversity,” Boyd said. “(He’s) been hurt, been going through this and that and still willing to give what he can to help us win. With that being said, I’ll go out there and lay my life out there for him.”

If Burrow can’t go, the Bengals would start backup Jake Browning, who was on the practice squad last season and threw his first and only NFL regular-season pass in the opening week loss to the Browns.

The Bengals play the Rams in the first regular-season meeting of the teams since Los Angeles beat Cincinnati 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI after the 2021 season.

For the Bengals on Friday, LB Akeem Davis-Gaither (knee) and TE Irv Smith Jr. (hamstring) also were listed as having limited participation in practice. S Nick Scott, who had been in concussion protocol, was a full participant.

___

AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL