They say the best ability is availability, but that seems harder than ever for NFL quarterbacks this season.
Seven starting quarterbacks − a whopping 22% of the league’s starters − have been sidelined this year due to season-ending injuries. The quarterback injury bug started Week 1 of the 2023-24 season with New York Jets’ QB Aaron Rodgers (Achilles) going down in the team’s season-opening drive. The list has continued to grow at an alarming rate throughout the season, with Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert (finger) as the latest addition as of Tuesday.
In addition to Rodgers and Herbert, Anthony Richardson (shoulder), Kirk Cousins (Achilles), Daniel Jones (knee) Deshaun Watson (shoulder) and Joe Burrow (wrist) all sustained season-ending injuries.
Here’s a week-by-week timeline of all the starting quarterbacks sidelined this season by injury:
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Week 14: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Herbert, 25, won five of his 13 starts this season, completing 65.1% of his passes for 3,134 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His 17,223 career passing yards are the most by any player in their first four seasons.
Prior to his injury, Herbert started 62 consecutive games, the second-longest active streak by a quarterback, behind the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, who has started 84 straight games.
Week 11: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow, who became the highest-paid player in NFL history in September after signing a five-year, $275 million contract extension, suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist in the Bengals’ 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on ‘Thursday Night Football’ on Nov. 16. The injury to his throwing hand happened in the second quarter when he landed on it following a hit and appeared in visible pain following a touchdown pass on the next play. He underwent season-ending surgery on Nov. 27.
‘I landed on the wrist a little bit,’ explained Burrow, who was hampered by a calf injury to start the season. ‘The next play, the touchdown pass I felt a pop in the middle of the throw.’
Burrow, 27, won five of his ten starts this season, completing 66.8% of his passes for 2,309 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. This is the second time an injury has cut Burrow’s season short. He sustained a season-ending knee injury as a rookie in Week 11 of the 2020 season.
Week 10: Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson suffered a shoulder injury, a displaced fracture in his right glenoid in his throwing shoulder, during the Browns’ 33-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 12. Watson was injured in the first half of the game, but was able to finish out the contest. However, he had season-ending surgery on his shoulder on Nov. 21.
Watson, 28, won five of his six starts this season, completing 61.4%, of his passes for 1,115 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. During the past three seasons, Watson has only started 12 games.
Week 9: Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Daniel Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million contact extension with the Giants in March, suffered a torn ACL in the team’s 30-6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 5. The injury occurred during the second quarter when Jones dropped back for a pass, his right knee buckled under him and he went down awkwardly. He missed the previous three weeks due to a neck injury.
Jones, 26, lost five of his six starts this season, completing 67.5% of his passes for 909 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. This will mark the second time in three years that an injury has ended his campaign early. In 2021, he was sidelined for the final six games by a neck injury.
Week 8: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Cousins, 35, won four of his eight starts this season, completing 69.5% of his passes for 2,331 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s started 87 games for the Vikings since arriving in 2018 and missed only two games: one when the team rested its starters in 2019 and another in 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19.
Week 5: Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
Rookie QB Anthony Richardson’s first season in the NFL ended after only four games. Richardson suffered a reported Grade 3 AC joint sprain in his shoulder during the Colt’s 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 8 and the team announced on Oct. 18 that he would undergo season-ending surgery.
Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2023 NFL draft in April, won two of his four starts, completing 59.5% of his passes for three touchdowns and one interception. Richardson missed one game earlier in the season due to a concussion.
Week 1: Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury just four plays into his highly anticipated Jets’ tenure during New York’s 22-16 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 11 on ‘Monday Night Football.’ The injury happened on a sack from Bills’ DE Leonard Floyd. Rodgers got up before falling back to the ground.
‘Before even an MRI, I knew what happened. I knew I tore my Achilles. I had popped my calf a few times… and it was not that sensation, so I knew that this was not a good situation,’ Rodgers, 40, said afterwards.
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He underwent season-ending surgery on Sept. 13 with Dr. Neal ElAttrache and promised a ‘damn good rehab plan that will shock some people.’ He did just that, blowing away general rehab timeline of six to nine months. Rodgers was cleared to return to practice in a limited capacity as the quarterback on Nov. 29,. although he remains on the injured reserve. He’s not expected to return this season.