With the Cincinnati Bengals an early six-point favorite against the Los Angeles Rams ahead of their NFL Week 3 Monday Night Football showdown at Paycor Stadium, sportsbooks likely expect Joe Burrow to start at quarterback despite tweaking his calf during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
If Burrow can’t go or doesn’t last the entire game, the Bengals would turn to backup Jake Browning, the only other QB on the active roster. Browning beat out Trevor Siemian and Reid Sinnett for the backup role.
Will Grier, cut by the Dallas Cowboys in August, is the only QB on the Bengals’ practice squad.
What to know about the 27-year-old Browning:
Jake Browning has taken four snaps during the NFL regular season.
He entered the game at the end of the Bengals’ Week 1 loss to the Browns in Cleveland, and did not complete his only pass attempt.
But the Bengals have seen a lot of him in consecutive preseasons since signing him to their practice squad in September 2021.
In three preseason games this year, he was 32-of-45 for 277 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. But he sealed the backup role with an impressive performance in the Bengals’ preseason finale against Washington.
“Jake is always on point,” Bengals receiver Andrei Iosivas said in August. “He can extend plays. He makes the right reads. When he trusts you, he throws it in places where you can get it. He knows the game, and he trusts his receivers.”
Browning is on an active NFL roster for the first time in his five-season NFL career.
Browning auditioned for the Minnesota Vikings’ backup role in 2021, and didn’t think he’d hear from another NFL team after the Vikings cut him.
“Jake is one of those guys that needed NFL game experience,” Bengals head coach Taylor said in August, per The Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith. “That’s what he has gotten over the last couple of years. Sometimes, you just need reps.”
Browning had one of the highlights of the 2022 preseason.
During the first half of a preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Browning scrambled under pressure before tossing an improbable 23-yard completion to Kendric Pryor.
Browning released the pass just before being pushed out of bounds by a defender, and Pryor made an outstanding catch and toe drag.
The NFL’s official Twitter account shared the video.
Browning signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
Each time the Vikings waived Browning in 2019 and 2020, they signed him to their practice squad the following day.
Browning left the University of Washington as the school’s all-time passing leader, and with more wins than any player in Pac-12 history.
He was the first true freshman to start a season opener for the Huskies. In 2016, he was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore, leading UW to the national semifinals. He played in the Rose Bowl in his final collegiate game.
Browning posted huge numbers in high school too.
At California’s Folsom High School, Browning broke a national record for touchdown passes by a quarterback that had been held by Maty Mauk of Kenton, Ohio.
Browning was the Gatorade Player of the Year in California his junior and senior years.
He set a state record in California with 16,775 passing yards, and threw 91 touchdown passes as a senior.
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