Jake Browning Press Conference – October 1

Jake Browning Press Conference – October 1

think was your kind of biggest takeaway from going back to the tape of uh Monday? I think the biggest takeaway for me is just um a couple deep balls. Um no deep balls ever been completed that a receiver couldn’t get to. And so uh especially with a guy like T, I felt like I had two um really two that stood out as not giving him a chance. And uh you know I was trying to I can see what I was trying to do. Like but I just I need to adjust how I’m throwing some of my 50/50 balls to him just to give him you know a shot at it. And uh so I would say that was the main takeaway. Um couple little things here and there that I I want to clean up. You know, one throw that I want back. Um but then outside of that, you know, I think you can only have so many takeaways um from any game whether it was good or bad and trying to focus on those. One throw the throw to uh Mitch Tinsley. I was scrambling to the left, saw him win early. I took the hard throw that was one in the progression instead of throwing to Jamar who’s number two wide open. And uh you know I’m not really knocking the read as much because I don’t want to get into the habit of passing up people open in a progression. Um but you know I I had a very similar throw in 2023 against Jacksonville. I was rolling to the right against and I threw it to Trent Irwin on a similar play and kind of threw it like that when Mitch was giving me body language that he was going to take it high and I should have thrown it high over the top and I kind of threw it like I decided the route for him like I thought he was going to break flat um towards the sideline. So that’s that’s the throw I want back outside of the two um fade balls to uh to T. And uh you know you hesitate to overcorrect cuz on our deep balls I mean I think we’re overall three for six uh one deep one that got called first third down to T deep one uh that got called back for a penalty uh to T and then a coverage penalty um to Jamar uh to the left and then really there’s another one I I missed on the second and 10 about a foot. I’m not gonna overthink that. It’s really the third down in the red zone where I didn’t give T a chance and there was another one on another third down um near our sideline that I threw it a little high. Is there a big difference in what you guys were doing offensively in 23 that seven game stretch that you had now? Uh I mean I I think it’s obviously the same system. You’re always going to mold your system to the players you have. Uh you know I think screen game and run game kind of helped me get into a rhythm. um or especially early on when I had no experience. Um but yeah, I think I think that’s kind of the main thing that stands out. Like I just felt like we did a better job when I was in 23 and we need to improve in this year is just staying ahead of the sticks more. Like the amount of snaps that I had in 23 where I was just second and five, you know, second and two, not second and 11, second and 12. And then you’re basically playing third down twice. Um, so I think that’s kind of something that stands out and also just how I approach, you know, some of my decision- making. Um, and prioritizing, you know, knowing when the situations are to to take the shots and, uh, and knowing when the situations are to just take the completion underneath, get us into a third and manageable. Getting the ball out on time is a big deal obviously for a quarterback. Seemed like on the first drive it was one read, two reads, whatever it was to you, the ball was out. Was it that way the rest of the game or do you think that’s perhaps what changed over the course of the game from the first drive? Yeah, I mean I think we haven’t played well on offense in the last two games, but I I think there’s very rarely been times on tape where I’m taking a drop, there’s someone open, I don’t throw it to him. Um, and so, you know, there’s a lot of different reasons for that. Sometimes it’s, you know, pocket, sometimes it’s, you know, I took a a yes, no throw over here and the guy to the left ends up being open. you know, you can’t overthink that because the decision- making was sound. You can’t coach off the result. You got to coach off the decision m coach yourself off of the decision- making. And so, yeah, I mean, I think every quarterback plays well when they’re playing on time and rhythm and, you know, the guys you expect to be open are are open. Um, and so I think that’s and that really goes back to kind of the point I made on the previous question is just the more what stood out to me about that drive is just staying ahead of the sticks. like we we were efficient on first down and got into some second and shorters, second and fours, and third downs were all manageable. And so, you know, I think that’s winning football just in general. That’s not um something special about the Bengals. I think that’s just when you’re playing offensive football, you want to stay ahead of the sticks. Is it is it uh those uh two short two 31s I think early on look like you just you made tough look like those are tough throws you know those those situations that you know are you looking to simplify it a little bit easier throws I mean is there such I mean I don’t think they’re there’s they’re easy decisions I mean if you want to come and play man you know I’m I’ll take de Higgins and Jamar all day long um I think I got to give him a better chance on some of them and uh and the ones that I did, I think the the outcome was positive. Uh so yeah, I mean I think that that kind of goes back to my main takeaway from the game is just giving our really good receivers opportunities uh on the 50/50 balls. Jay, what’s your philosophy from being under center and like how like the conversation with Zack, how much you like being it as opposed to like 23 versus now? How have those conversations evolved on your thoughts on being under center versus being a shotgun or pistol? Yeah, I think that kind of comes down to, you know, what what are we doing running the ball and trying to marry it up with the run game. Um, so, you know, I think that’s really what decides what your play action looks like. Um, not really the other way around. You know, if you’re under center running the ball and that’s where most of your efficient runs are coming from on tape, then you want to, you know, mirror that in the play action game. Um, but if you’re a gun run team that is uh doing a lot more of it, you know, in the gun or pistol or whatever it is, you just want to make them look the same. What’s What’s it like uh like what are the challenges of playing under center versus I know it’s kind of a basic question, but what are the challenges of quarterback going from under center running your pass game out of there primarily versus being a shotgun or pistol? I mean, you’re hoping when you get under center, you get more favorable looks for the pass game. Um, you know, you hope you get some dot checks and you’re hoping you’re throwing into single high. Uh, and you’re getting a better run cell, so you’re getting more aggressive bite from the linebackers. Um, but in theory, you really should be able to do both. I think especially at this level, like if you’re an NFL quarterback, I think you should be able to do under center, pistol, or gun, whatever’s whatever is going to work. Um, so like I think it kind of goes back to what I just said is just whatever’s working in the run game. Like I don’t I don’t make those decisions on if it’s under center pistol or gun. So I just want to be able to do whatever is going to marry up the best and complement what we’re do what we need to be able to do in the run game. Um, so that we can, you know, not be predictable. How important is it for you to when you’re doing that self-evaluation to stick to the film and not let the the overall struggles or the stats or anything like that get to you and and impact how you grade yourself when you’re looking at it? Yeah, I think it’s hard. Uh, everyone’s I mean, personally, you’re pissed off. you know, you want to score way more points and there’s obviously frustrations with how little production we’ve had on offense and I don’t think anyone’s hiding from that. Um, and so I think you know you have the personal level and then you have the team level of how you evaluate it and not even evaluate it but just how you approach it. Like personal level it’s like okay remove all the how you’re feeling about everything. like just go through each game or each play and are there certain things that are showing up that you’re doing that are contributing to the lack of success on offense? I think for me it’s given, you know, guys a better chance on some of these deep balls. Um kind of pointed out the two main ones that I think I want back. Uh and then, you know, on a team level, it’s just what do you look like walking in the building on Wednesday? You know, we all got we’re all short week, all that different stuff. Everyone’s pissed, you know. I think that’s something that you don’t really know. Nobody really knows except for yourself. Like when you lay down at night, like did I bring it today in a Wednesday walkthrough where I could have coasted through everything or did I do, you know, did you dedicate more of yourself or less of yourself? And that’s kind of something Zach’s been saying is, you know, when there’s adversity hitting or like things aren’t going the way you want, like did you are you dedicating more of yourself to it? um to try and figure out the solution and be part of the solution or are you dedicating less so that the losses hurt less? You’re kind of disconnected and you know, you’re making excuses for why things are going the way they are. And so I think that’s you know, outside of some major outliers, uh you know, you don’t really know, nobody really knows how your response is except for yourself. And so I think for me I’ve always been more just do more and you know whether the outcome is what you like what you want it to be or not you know at least you got the peace of mind. There’s a lot of things that go into winning football games and losing football games but a lack of effort is just something very controllable. And so I think that’s kind of the focus on you know for myself as showing up to work. Orlando hinted that there might be an extra offensive meeting with the leaders after the last game to maybe figure out a way to get you guys playing better. Has there been anything different this week? I mean, I think we’ll keep some of that stuff internal, but you know, I don’t I think the main, like I said, just the main focus for us is just d, you know, more dedicate more of yourself to it. Put more time into it. And you know, I I I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I’m leaving no stone unturned and and showing up Sunday with giving our chance or our team the best chance to win. What was your take on the walk through today? What was your thought went well about as well as a Wednesday walkthrough can be and uh you know it’s one day and now it’s getting ready for Thursday and and doing everything we need to do to make sure we have a good practice tomorrow. But one day at a time said that self-inflicted mistakes just can’t be tolerated. He said that was one of the messages to you guys as a what does that mean to you as a quarterback? Means pre- snap uh making sure we’re in the right play, making sure that everything is operationally gone well or you know is how it’s supposed to be. And then postnap it’s taking care of the ball. And uh you know I think in this offense you do have to make some aggressive throws in the pocket. Um that’s just the reality of being a drop back team and you know relying on drop back game. And so I think for me it’s just you know some of the decision-m outside of the pocket uh I really felt like was better this last game. I think that was one positive is obviously Minnesota had two picks, Jacksonville had three. Like definitely felt like I took better care of the ball and didn’t put us back like with turnovers and was able to find the balance of still being aggressive and pushing the ball down the field when it needed to be um and not making careless throws or reckless throws outside the pocket. So, um I think that’s kind of what that applies to the quarterback. Knowing how explosive Detroit can be, how many points they’ve put up on the board so far this year, does that go into your thinking as a quarterback about exactly how aggressive you have to be downfield? Uh, I mean, I think that’s a dangerous, you know, trap to fall into. I think, you know, for me, I’m just going to operate the play call that I get and uh and be really focused on making sure, you know, one play at a time, just operating how it’s supposed to be run. I think if you start trying to make your decisions based on what they have on offense or, you know, what they do or don’t have on offense, could be kind of a dangerous trap to fall into. So, um, just want to operate well, want to keep the ball moving forward, play ahead of the sticks, and give our guys chance down the field. What stands out about their defense? I mean, I think they’re definitely going to, at least so far, come up and and challenge you. They got really good personnel. Front seven’s really good. the uh DBs are scrappy as hell. I mean, I I like watching I think 21 does a really good job. He’s aggressive. He’s not afraid to come up and press anybody in the NFL. He doesn’t care. And uh I think the safeties do a really good job being ball hawks. V’s taking a ton of pride in proving how well you can play his position. Does that intensify after the last couple weeks for you in your mind or no? Is it kind of the same? I mean, yeah. I think the the attention or like the intensity throughout the week gets higher. I think on game day you have to be who you need to be on game day. And like for me that’s not somebody that’s trying to prove the world wrong with one throw. I think that’s how you end up making some some dumb decisions. Um but I think for me it’s it’s uh when things aren’t going the way you want them to. It’s how what’s your level of intensity throughout the week. And so, um, I think that’s kind of how I respond to things not going well. And, uh, but I think on game day, you got to be whatever you need to be in order to play your best ball. And I think for me, that’s just, you know, playing calm and and operating at a high level. Thanks, Jake. Thanks,

Jake Browning speaks to the media going into Week 5 against the Detroit Lions.

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