Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are coming to a crossroads in the 2025 season.

Burrow has been on injured reserve since Sept. 16 after injuring the left big toe in the second quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Monday started a 21-day period during which he may begin limited practice with the team without counting against the 53-player active roster. He is eligible to be activated to the roster during the 21-day period.

And that schedule has advanced much more rapidly than even the experts imagined. When he went down in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 14 at Paycor, the thinking was he would have surgery for the grade 3 sprain of his left toe and would be out until at least mid-December. Burrow is 2-3 weeks ahead of that timeline right now.

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