CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow returned to action this week, leading Cincinnati to a 32-14 win over Baltimore on Thanksgiving.

The star signal-caller missed nine games (Weeks 3-12) after he suffered a grade 3 toe sprain that required surgery. Burrow healed quick and got back on the field just 69 days after undergoing surgery.

The 28-year-old spoke with Albert Breer after Thursday night’s win and addressed the issue that plenty of fans and analysts have with him as a player: his availability.

“And it’s no secret what the narrative around my career is—I’m great when I’m out there, but I haven’t been out there as much as everybody else,” Burrow said. “So one thing I can control with that is when I feel like I’m ready to go, get back out there and keep doing it.”

Burrow was making it clear why he came back this season, even though the Bengals’ playoff chances are slim.

He’s missed 22 regular season games in six seasons. He’s been hurt in two of the past three years. He suffered a wrist injury in 2023 that kept him out for the final seven games of the year.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to find the fun in it again,” Burrow told Breer. “These last three years have been pretty brutal with two injuries, and then the season we had last year. It’s been a while since I was able to have fun doing this. And so I’m just trying to find that again. And the only way I can do that is by playing. You’re not going to have any fun by watching everybody else play. That’s for sure.”

Burrow pushed to play against the Patriots in Week 12, but Zac Taylor opted to give his star quarterback a few more days of rest. Cincinnati lost that game, which hurt their playoff chances.

Now they’re hoping Burrow can lead them to six-straight wins to end the regular season. They got one on Thursday night in Baltimore. Five more wins will give them a real shot of making the playoffs.