ESPN’s Joe Buck Made Cringeworthy Joe Burrow Joke During Bengals-Jaguars Game

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow wasn’t on the field on Monday night during his team’s 34—31 win over the Jaguars, but ESPN play-by-play commentator Joe Buck still found multiple ways to work the injured signal-caller’s name into the broadcast. One of the ways Buck chose to do so was with a joke that didn’t land too well and ultimately was cringe-inducing. 

After Bengals running back Joe Mixon plunged into the end zone for a 6-yard score in the second quarter, Buck and fellow ESPN commentator Troy Aikman turned things over to NFL rules analyst John Parry, asking the former official if he thought the halfback had scored before his wrist hit the ground. 

Aikman asked Parry if the wrist was part of the hand, which is when Buck cracked his one-liner, telling his partner to “ask Joe Burrow.”

Troy Aikmen: “The wrist is part of the hand?”

Joe Buck: “The wrist IS part of the hand. Just ask Joe Burrow.”

Me: pic.twitter.com/o4FbdPu3yU

— Arthur (@justsayawesome) December 5, 2023

Buck might have thought it was funny, but the joke, poking fun at Burrow, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury Nov. 16, didn’t land quite the way he intended. 

NFL fans were not impressed. 

"The wrist is part of the hand, ask Joe Burrow" that's tasteless commentary @espn

— Brett Frrr (@LastChanceGiven) December 5, 2023

“The wrist is part of the hand”

- Ask Joe Burrow

That was a crazy line he slid in there

— HowieSZN (@KingJackWrld) December 5, 2023

“the wrist is part of the hand… ask joe burrow” pic.twitter.com/oOzIuXYuwp

— katy (@katyyyknapp) December 5, 2023

Buck has dropped some good one-liners, and he’s also had some bad ones. This one seems as if it can be filed under the latter category.