Hall of Famer talks Bengals' Joe Burrow playing through calf injury

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner understands why Cincinnati Bengals star signal-caller Joe Burrow insists on playing through a calf injury that impacted Burrow from the early days of training camp through the first four weeks of the regular season. 

"If I was Joe and I could get out there and play, I'd be out there playing," Warner explained during the latest edition of the "What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask" podcast, per James Rapien of FanNation's All Bengals. "That's the nature of what we do. It's one of those things. We always say to ourselves or we hear people say, 'Well, he should play if he gives the team the best chance to win. Well, if there's somebody else that gives them the best chance to win, then he should sit down or the coaches should sit him down.' I can tell you that I never felt that there was somebody that gave our team a better chance to win." 

Burrow visibly wasn't himself over the past month as the Bengals fell to 1-3 ahead of this Sunday's game at the 1-3 Arizona Cardinals. According to ESPN stats, he ended Week 4 ranked 29th in the NFL among qualified players with a 33.6 adjusted QBR, 34th with a 69.1 passer rating and 32nd with a 57.6% completion percentage on the season. He tossed two touchdown passes and two interceptions across his first four games. 

For a piece published Wednesday, ESPN's Dan Graziano noted that "the Bengals' belief is Burrow's calf will continually improve as long as he doesn't pull it again" before the club's Week 7 bye. Following the upcoming weekend, Cincinnati hosts the Seattle Seahawks (3-1) on Oct. 15. 

"It didn't matter if I was beat up, if I was on one leg, I was limping out there," Warner continued during the podcast. "That's how we feel as competitors. Our team is better when we're out there. Whatever that means, even if we can't play our best. Our team is better when we're out there leading them."

There's no indication Burrow will sit as long as he's physically cleared to play, especially with the Bengals in last place in the AFC North standings. Only time will tell if Cincinnati should've temporarily gone in a different direction at the position before Week 1 and before Burrow aggravated the calf strain in the Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 17.