Burrow good to go, Stewart to debut for Bengals

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  Ben BabySep 18, 2026, 01:54 PM ET

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  Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI -- The Bengals will officially have their starting quarterback this weekend.

Joe Burrow was a full participant at Friday's practice and is set to play in this week's road contest against the Houston Texans, coach Zac Taylor said. Burrow was limited on Wednesday and Thursday with back tightness that flared up following the team's Week 1 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Taylor said he "feels good" about Burrow's availability for the game and doesn't feel as if Burrow needs to mitigate injury risk, whether it be this weekend or moving forward.

"He's a competitor," Taylor said. "Take that from him and now what do you have? You got a guy who you've taken the stinger out of him a little bit. I'm not about that."

In the first game of the season, Burrow was 25-of-35 for 254 yards, one touchdown and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. He was sacked once and took very few hits -- with the exception of one scramble.

Near the end of the first quarter, Burrow scrambled for six yards to convert a third down. He was hit hard by Tampa Bay linebacker Alex Anzalone at the intersection of the sideline and the first-down marker.

Taylor used that play as an example of Burrow's competitiveness.

"He's got to go play football," Taylor said. "This is the NFL. And of course we want him to be safe and healthy. I'm not comfortable saying don't go get the first down on third eight and be two yards short and (then) let's go for it."

Throughout the week, Burrow strongly indicated that he would be healthy enough to play against the Texans despite the limited usage early in the week. On Wednesday, he made no significant throws before ramping up as the week went on.

Burrow said dealing with an injury like the one he is dealing with is just part of the game.

"People that play tackle football from third grade, like I did, and all contact sports, it's part of part of the game," Burrow said on Wednesday. "So, we've been dealing with this since we were little. It's no big deal."

The Bengals are looking to start the season with a 2-0 record for the second straight year. This year could yield a more optimistic outlook, however. In last year's Week 2 victory, Burrow sustained a turf toe injury that sidelined him for the following nine weeks. That marked the third time in his career that he landed on injured reserve (2020, knee; 2023, wrist).

In other injury news, Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart will make his season debut. He missed the first game as he continued to recover from a hyperextended left knee that he suffered on the first practice of training camp.

"Obviously the talent we drafted in the first round, that's why he's here," Taylor said. "And so I'm just excited to get him back in the fold and get him some reps."

Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill is expected to be listed as questionable after dealing with Achilles soreness on Thursday, Taylor said. He did not practice on Friday.