Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will undergo toe surgery that will sideline him for a minimum of three months, according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.
Burrow suffered the injury in the first half of Sunday’s NFL Week 2 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, the Bengals still pulled off a 31-27 victory without their star quarterback to begin a season 2-0 for the first time in seven years.
Jake Browning stepped in at quarterback for the Bengals, completing 21 of his 32 pass attempts for 241 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He’ll likely be the starter for the foreseeable future, assuming the Bengals don’t make another roster move at the position.
If you can recall, Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in 2023, and Browning then led the Bengals to a respectable 4-3 record in relief. Burrow, who led the league in passing touchdowns and yards last season, is a two-time winner of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award as the oft-injured superstar has repeatedly battled injuries and rebounded throughout his NFL career.
Heading into Week 3, the Bengals hold the top spot in the AFC North standings with their 2-0 record. Most online sportsbooks have the Bengals listed as consensus 3.5-point underdogs next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings in the wake of Burrow’s injury.
NFL odds shakeups after Burrow’s injury
Heading into the season, Burrow garnered the highest ticket percentage (15.7%) and the highest handle percentage (23.7%) to win the MVP Award at BetMGM Sportsbook after opening with +750 odds. He opened with +5000 odds to win the Offensive Player of the Year Award, drawing only about 4% of the handle at the sportsbook to earn the honour. There will obviously be a considerable number of disappointed sports bettors that backed Burrow in these respective futures odds markets.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is the favourite to win the NFL MVP Award at BetMGM with +300 odds, followed closely by Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (+350) and Green Bay’s Jordan Love (+800).
After opening the season with +2200 odds to win the Super Bowl (bet365) and -150 odds (bet365) to make the playoffs, Cincinnati is now a long +5000 to host the Lombardi Trophy and +200 to make the playoffs.