CINCINNATI (WKRC) – For those who believed the Bengals should have traded Jake Browning after the 2023 season when he proved to be a capable quarterback in the seven games he started in place of Joe Burrow, you can now understand the reason they didn’t.
The Bengals have what they believe is a team capable not only earning a playoff berth, but capable of making a run at a Super Bowl championship. While their chances are better with a healthy Burrow, now that he is going to miss significant time due a turf toe injury suffered in Sunday’s win over Jacksonville, it’s a good thing they have a backup as good as Browning, who has shown he is capable of leading the team to wins.
Browning rallied the Bengals to that 31-27 win over Jacksonville after replacing Burrow in the first half with the team trailing 17-10. It marked the first meaningful snaps Browning had played since his seven-game stint in 2023 as last season he took only five snaps and didn’t throw a single pass.
“It’s never been too big for him,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “He’s always known that he’s ready. He just wanted an opportunity. That’s all he wants. I think he comes in the building every day knowing something like this can happen today. His career — I don’t want to get this extreme — but it could end if he’s not prepared. If you walk out there and you have a really bad performance and everybody sees that tape and they say, ‘Okay, that’s enough of that.’ I think as a backup quarterback, he lives that life. He knows he has to be prepared. It could be at any moment. We could be down a touchdown and he has to lead this team back to win. We’ve had that confidence every step of the way with Jake. He’s proven that for us time and time again and again.”
Browning had an outstanding four-year college career at the University of Washington where he threw for almost 13,000 yards and tossed 94 touchdown passes. Despite that, he wasn’t selected in the 2019 NFL draft and signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings. He spent two seasons on Vikings practice squad before the Bengals signed him in 2021, but he spent that season and the next on their practice squad. That meant he went his first four NFL seasons having never thrown a pass in a game.
He beat out Trevor Siemian for the backup spot to Burrow in 2023, and was pressed into service when Burrow suffered a season-ending broken wrist in the 10th game of that season at Baltimore.
After the Bengals lost Browning’s first start against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they won each of the next three games to stay alive for a playoff spot, and Browning played a key role in all three. In the first of those wins he completed 32 of 37 passes for 354 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in a 34-31 overtime victory in Jacksonville. The next start was a 34-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts where Browning was an efficient 18 of 24 for 275 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He then led a 27-24 comeback overtime win against the Vikings by throwing two fourth quarter touchdown passes, including the tying score to wide receiver Tee Higgins with 39 seconds left in regulation. The Bengals had trailed 17-3 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs the following week by losing 25-17 at Kansas City, but Browning was a solid 19 of 33 for 197 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Overall, Browning finished 4-3 as a starter and wound up leading the NFL in completion percentage (70.4 percent) as he threw enough passes to qualify.
“I love the guy,” said Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. “He and I have a really good relationship. and yeah it’s just awesome when you see him get an opportunity and he does what we all believe that he’s going to do and this team believes in him, his coaches believe in him, and man, that goes a long way. That’s why I sit here 2-0, excited, energized, because everything we want to do this year is right in front of us.”
In his relief role on Sunday against Jacksonville, Browning completed 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns, and overcame throwing three interceptions by leading the Bengals on a 92-yard drive that started with 3:42 remaining in the game and culminated with him leaping into the end zone from a yard out with 18 seconds left to provide the winning points.
“Anytime he comes into the game, while it’s a situation we don’t necessarily want, but when he comes in he wins ballgames,” said center Ted Karras. “No fear, no panic, got it done. That’s my guy.”
Karras isn’t the only teammate who believes in Browning, which is why the Bengals don’t believe their season is over because Burrow is out.
“They see Jake work and so they know,” Taylor said of the players. “They know he knows the playbook inside and out. He’s going to be making protection adjustments. He is going to be able to make the right adjustments. He’s fully capable to go out there and lead it. We’re fortunate we have the best quarterback in the world leading the charge and we’re also very happy we have Jake as the backup. We have a ton of confidence in Jake and so he proved that (Sunday) against what I think everyone’s going to see is a really good football team. He’s done that in the past. He’s played against this team, we’re about to play (the Vikings this Sunday), so he’s got experience there. The point that you turn to now is excited for Jake to go out there and play and he’s earned the right to be in the spotlight and so guys will rally behind him and we’ll get Jake’s best.”
Browning said he gains confidence from the confidence his teammates have in him.
“There’s an appreciation for that,” said Browning. “I’ve also been here a while. I’m sure people feel that I would — and this is weird — but that, ‘Hey, this guy could play at a lot of other places,’ but I’m behind Joe. (That’s) weird to say after throwing three picks, but I think its some of that. Obviously — no one’s happy about what happened to Joe — it gives me a chance. When I’m a backup, the way Zac and Pitch work with me, I try to be like that with Joe, be as helpful as possible. They see I work really hard at this, and am always prepared and ready. Even if I’m not on the field, I want to win and do everything I can to help us win.”
There aren’t a lot of teams in the NFL who have a reliable backup, especially to a star quarterback, but the Bengals certainly do.
“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious,” said Karras. “I think he’s obviously a starter in this league. We’re blessed to have good depth there. It sucks we have to test it.”
It could have been worse if Bengals had opted to move on from Browning like some had wanted.