The speed of which Joe Burrow has thrusted the Cincinnati Bengals into true relevancy since arriving just over three years ago is extraordinary. But for now, he'll need to take things slow as he recovers from a calf strain, an injury that's been known to re-aggravate when you least expect it.

That comes with missing practice time, and almost surely not being able to play in the preseason for a second-straight year. To alleviate this predicament, quarterback Reid Sinnett was brought in over the weekend, giving Cincinnati three arms to make it through August.

August, not September. That distinction is important.

The vagueness of Burrow's recovery timetable has been well established. "Several weeks" was offered numerous times by head coach Zac Taylor. Reports indicate that Week 1 is still the expectation, but with a tricky soft tissue ailment that can feel better than it actually is, no one can be too sure.

Bengals adding Reid Sinnett is good news for Joe Burrow

A reason for optimism lies in what the Bengals did Sunday. In signing Sinnett instead of another free agent quarterback with starting experience, ala Teddy Bridgewater or Nick Foles, the Bengals revealed that one of two things are true. 

They're confident in Burrow returning before the games count, or they're confident in one of Jake Browning or Trevor Siemian starting a game or two when they count.  

Sinnett has arm talent to make plays in the preseason. The Bengals saw this first hand two years ago when he threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns against them in the one career preseason game Burrow has appeared in. 

He also has played exactly zero snaps in the regular season. He was not brought in for anything past the upcoming month. 

Should the worst case scenario occur and Burrow's recovery does bleed into September, the winner between Browning and Siemian will have the honor of facing at least one AFC North defense in the first two weeks of the regular season. 

Siemian has started at least one game in each of the past two years and was a two-year starter from 2016-17 with the Denver Broncos. This fact alone may end up swaying the Bengals to keep him over Browning, who has also never taken the field outside of preseason action. 

As of now, the Bengals aren't playing favorites under center. Browning and Siemian are receiving equal opportunity and splitting reps on a daily basis. It's what the plan was going to be anyways before Burrow went down to decide the QB2 for the year. The battle has now been taken up a notch as they're getting legitimate reps with the first-string offense. 

We may not have an exact date on Burrow's eventual return, but in keeping the status quo what it is outside of adding an excitingly limited camp arm, the panic button remains untouched in Cincinnati.

NFL insider makes strong statement about when he thinks Joe Burrow will return to the field

An NFL insider made a strong statement about when he thinks Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow will return to the field

Featured image via © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK