Quarterback Joe Burrow will miss “several weeks” with a calf injury, according to Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, via NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That is obviously a brutal way to begin training camp, but everyone is likely breathing a sigh of relief that the initial prognosis is not worse.

Non-contact injuries are often alarming and have resulted in many star players missing significant time, including Kyler Murray just last year. Still, no one on the Bengals is going to thank Lady Luck any time soon. Burrow left practice Thursday with a calf strain and was in visible discomfort. He tore his ACL in his rookie 2020-21 campaign but has a reputation for being one of the toughest and most fearless QBs in the league.

That crucial trait is going to need to be working at full force during going forward. Cincinnati will have to forge ahead in training camp without its leader and most important player. Hopefully, after two straight AFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance, all of the prep work will be muscle memory.

Cincy's title aspirations remain strong, but it is unclear how the roster will look going into next year. The organization has three top offensive players to pay, none more important than the injured Joe Burrow. He is probably not thinking about contract negotiations at this moment, however. The 26-year-old threw for 4,475 passing yards and 35 touchdowns (career-high) on a 68.3 completion percentage last season.

While there might be a trying road ahead, it is hard to find a player and franchise better equipped to weather this adversity. Burrow has gone through a much more grueling recovery process before and the Bengals survived ions without a postseason victory. At the very least, patience and perseverance should not be an issue these next “several weeks.”