Joe Burrow famously returned to limited practice Monday ("It felt good"), but his hopes for the Bengals remain limitless after surveying their mere two-game deficit behind the first-place Steelers in the AFC North.

"Our division is wide open," said Burrow after his first practice in two months. "I think Pittsburgh's 5-4 at this point. We play them this week. Everything is still there in front of us. Very rare that our division looks like this, but it does this year and, so, I think we'll be at least in it until the end."

With the 3-6 Bengals, 2-0, in the North, Burrow thinks his third division title is vital.

"I think it'd be very difficult for us to be a Wild Card team at this point," Burrow said. "Obviously, a lot of football to be played but I think that's difficult. I think our best path would be winning the division."

Timelines

Sidelined since Sept. 14 with turf toe, Burrow saw a 21-day window open Monday even though he has yet to be cleared for full activity. In this 21-day period, Burrow may begin limited practice with the team without counting against the 53-player active roster. He's eligible to be activated to the roster during the 21-day window.

But Burrow isn't opening any windows just yet. Such as when asked if a return is based on where the Bengals are in the race.

"We'll see. We'll see how these next couple of weeks go. We'll see how it feels," Burrow said. "We'll make a good decision when the time comes.

"We have 21 days to figure that out. Could be early, could be late in that window. We are still pretty early post-surgery for this injury, so we have a couple of weeks of practice to figure that out and see how it goes."

Burrow left no doubt he'd like a chance to influence the division proceedings and admitted it would be "very," meaningful if he returned for the Thanksgiving Night game in Baltimore 17 days away.

(It will be recalled when the schedule came out back in the spring, Burrow asked the league to note that it was the Bengals' fourth straight prime-time game in Baltimore.)

But asked if that game is a target, he said, "We'll see how the next couple of weeks go."

Not Shoe-less Joe

Burrow says he's working on a special kind of shoe to help the toe.

"It's an ongoing process. We're figuring out what works for me, and I have to have a lot of hardware in there to protect it. So there's been a lot that has gone into that," he said.

His footwork has been the literal base of his impeccable throwing mechanics, but he doesn't think they'll be impacted by the injury.

"I'm not too concerned about the actual mechanics of the throwing. That feels good, the toe, specifically, the front toe, isn't very involved in that, and it's just the planting, and I'm strong enough," Burrow said. "And we feel good about doing that at this point. It's just the running, cutting, twitchy short stops that we're going to have to see over these next couple of weeks. How it feels and where that goes."

Slants and Screens

Burrow has enjoyed getting to know the man who has replaced him so spectacularly in the last four games. A 400-yard passing day at Paycor Stadium isn't the only thing he and Joe Flacco share.

"He's fun to be around. He's quiet sometimes. I think we have that in common," Burrow said. "He'll throw some off-the wall stuff out there every once in a while that I like, that makes me laugh. He's fun to be around. I'm happy that I've been able to have this experience and watch him do his thing and see how he operates …

Linebacker and one-time signal-caller Logan Wilson was traded to Dallas last week, but that Wyoming phone number still holds a special place in the contacts of the man replacing him.

"He told me even though he's gone, he's only a phone call away," said rookie linebacker Barrett Carter, the man who now has the green dot on his helmet with the headset. "Sad to see him go. He took me under his wing the day I got drafted. First one to text me. He's like a big brother, and such a great leader to me ever since that day.

"Sad to see him go, but I'm happy he's still chasing his dream and being great because that's what he is." …