Joe Flacco is only 'worried about doing my job' for Bengals and not Joe Burrow 

"I don't know, I think backups probably do it a good amount where they know like, 'Hey, this guy's coming back, he's got a three-week injury or whatever it is,'" Flacco said to Dave Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I'm honestly not really thinking about it. It's not really a part of my process. I really don't care. It's this week, and that's all that matters. And I think to think about that stuff would just be a distraction. So it's not really something I'm worried about. Like I said, I'm just worried about doing my job, and this week that's going out and playing against Pittsburgh."

Joe Flacco has possibly two games to continue to keep Bengals' playoff hopes alive

The problem for the Bengals hasn’t been their offense (22nd, 308.2 yards) — averaging close to 33 points since Flacco took over — but their defense (32nd, 426.6 yards), which has allowed 36 points per game in the same span. Burrow’s 21-day window would take him to four days (Dec. 1) after their Thanksgiving game against another divisional opponent, the Baltimore Ravens (4-5).

When asked by Fox19 Now in Cincinnati’s Joe Danneman about how meaningful it would be to play on Thanksgiving, Burrow replied, "Very." When Danneman followed up by asking if that’s his "target," Burrow shrugged his shoulders and replied, "We’ll see how these next couple of weeks go."

Flacco and the Bengals could be in store for a win on Sunday when they play the Steelers after Pittsburgh lost to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10 and allowed a total of 335 yards and two touchdowns. The New England Patriots (8-2) should be more of a challenge in Week 12, as they’re riding a seven-game winning streak and play the 2-7 New York Jets on "Thursday Night Football" to kick off Week 11.