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When will Joe Burrow return and play? Will Joe Burrow be back again this season? Read the latest Joe Burrow injury updates and return date for Week 5 (2025).
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (toe), one of the NFL's best signal-callers, unfortunately suffered a toe injury in Week 2 of 2025. He hasn't played since then, and in his absence, the Bengals have had one of the league's worst offenses.
Despite playing reasonably well in 2023 in relief of Burrow, backup quarterback Jake Browning has failed to make much of an impact this season. He hasn't yet thrown for more than 250 passing yards and has tossed just two touchdowns to five interceptions.
Unfortunately, receivers Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase have also seen massive declines in their scoring outputs. Chase was the most common No. 1 overall pick in 1QB PPR fantasy leagues this season, so the loss of Burrow stings. But when will he come back to play?
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Joe Burrow Injury Update
Burrow quickly had surgery to address his toe injury. Sadly, he's set to miss extensive time. He was placed on injured reserve shortly after the Week 2 game, and is apparently not set to return until at least the middle of December. For reference, Cincinnati's Week 15 game is on December 14th.
That's a long way away. If he comes back dealing with pain in his toe, or has any hiccups along the way, it might not even be reasonable to start him early on, depending on the league you're in. He's one of the league's best passers, but Cincy management has failed miserably at building an offensive line that can properly protect him.
The Bengals O-Line using four men to stop one player and letting two defenders get around the flanks
Does not convince me that this team can win a game without Joe Burrow pic.twitter.com/Hqml60ND2c
— Shane Brennan (@ShaneBrennan21) September 30, 2025
It's hard to put into words just how valuable he is for the franchise. As far as this season, you don't have much choice but to start him in six-point passing touchdown leagues. But for dynasty leagues, the (possibly) good news is that maybe Cincy's ownership will see the light and fire head coach Zac Taylor.
Taylor's clearly been carried by the greatness of Burrow throughout his career. The HC has absolutely zero answers, despite an offense loaded with weapons, for how to lead a functional offense without a No. 1 overall pick quarterback who would probably be bound for the Hall of Fame if it weren't for his injuries.
In terms of dynasty leagues, it doesn't make much sense to trade Burrow. Even with Taylor holding back the offense, he has major upside. You just won't get to experience it for much of 2025.
Joe Burrow Fantasy Football Outlook
With such a short slate of games left for him when he returns and a team that's likely to be out of playoff contention, it's hard to imagine Burrow immediately smashing when he returns. He'll have a lot of rust to shake off. Missing most of the season is never good for offensive chemistry.
There's a case to be made for leaving him on the bench in four-point pass TD leagues if you have better options, and you should probably grab quarterback Jaxson Dart (hamstring) if you can. He's my QB1 for the 2025 NFL Draft class, and even with top WR Malik Nabers (knee) out for the season, he can be a top-12 QB this year.
no one stands a chance behind this OL pic.twitter.com/GtKn2vexAi
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 30, 2025
When he returns, he could continue to be one of the league's best passing QBs, of course. But the Bengals seriously need to address the offensive line issues, or injuries could continue to be a big part of Burrow's career.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Looking for a replacement? Below are some popular Week 5 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Kyler Murray, Jaxson Dart, Matthew Stafford, C.J. Stroud, Daniel Jones, Geno Smith, Drake Maye compared to others:
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