Bengals' Jake Browning: Giving way to Flacco on Sunday
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Browning is set to move into a backup role with Joe Flacco having been named the starting QB for Sunday's game against the Packers, Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official site reports.
With Browning having gone 0-3 as a starter since taking over for franchise QB Joe Burrow (toe) -- who is on IR -- in Week 3, the Bengals traded for Flacco on Tuesday. Coach Zac Taylor then quickly made the change at signal-caller, while noting Wednesday, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, that Flacco's style "fits our style" and that the 40-year-old will take all the first-team QB reps ahead of Week 6 action.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Likely shifting to backup role
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Browning is expected to move into a backup role at quarterback for Sunday's game against the Packers after the Bengals acquired Joe Flacco from the Browns on Tuesday, Jay Morrison of SI.com reports.
According to Morrison, the expectation is that Flacco will arrive in Cincinnati in time to take first-team reps at Wednesday's practice, and assuming the veteran signal-caller absorbs the new playbook quickly, he'll take over as the Bengals' new starter this weekend. As the Bengals' starter for the past three games, Browning led the team to an 0-3 record while completing 64.1 percent of his passes for just 5.6 yards per attempt, and he threw eight interceptions in total over 14-plus quarters since replacing an injured Joe Burrow (toe) midway through the team's Week 2 win over the Jaguars. Flacco -- who posted a 2:6 TD:INT and 5.1 YPA in four starts for Cleveland before being benched last week -- hasn't fared any better than Browning this season, but his longer track record of sustained success in the NFL looks like it'll be enough for him to serve as the team's preferred option under center until Burrow potentially returns later in the campaign.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Not guaranteed to start Week 6
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Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was non-committal Monday when asked whether Browning would start Sunday's game against the Packers, Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Browning has performed poorly in three starts since Joe Burrow was sent to injured reserve with a toe injury. After completing 33 of 52 pass attempts (63.5 percent) for 265 yards (5.1 YPA), one touchdown and two interception in losses to the Vikings and Broncos in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively, Browning bottomed out in the Bengals' 37-24 loss to the Lions on Sunday, throwing three more picks. Unless the Bengals elect to look outside the organization for a potential change at quarterback heading into Week 6, the other options beyond Browning would be backup Brett Rypien and practice-squad members Mike White and Sean Clifford.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Pads stats late
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Browning completed 26 of 40 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in Sunday's 37-24 loss to the Lions. He added four rushes for 31 yards.
Browning's final line looks relatively positive, but he threw three interceptions by early in the third quarter that led directly to 14 points for the Lions. He salvaged his performance late in the contest with the help of heroics from Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, connecting with the duo for scores of 15, 64 and two yards. To add a final insult to the day, Browning was sacked for a safety to conclude the Bengals' final possession. While he looked to be one of the better backups in the league for the final seven games of 2023, Browning has six touchdowns as compared to eight interceptions while averaging only 6.1 yards per attempt in four games this season.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Uninspiring performance in loss
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Browning completed 14 of 25 passes for 125 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions while adding three rushes for four yards in the Bengals' 28-3 loss to the Broncos on Monday night.
About the only true positive for Browning in the lopsided loss was that he managed to avoid turning the ball over against a ferocious Broncos defense. Browning took three sacks and averaged only 5.0 yards per attempt, with no Bengals pass catcher managing to exceed 32 receiving yards. Browning has completed just 63.4 percent of his passes and posted a 1:2 TD:INT over his first two full games as a starter, so it remains to be seen if head coach Zac Taylor considers a change to fellow backup Brett Rypien for a Week 5 home matchup against the Lions.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Rough afternoon in lopsided loss
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Browning completed 19 of 27 passes for 140 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and rushed once for three yards in the Bengals' 48-10 loss to the Vikings on Sunday.
The Vikings jumped on Browning and the Bengals early, establishing a 14-0 lead through one quarter, and the veteran backup was never able to get his side of the ball fully on track. Browning ultimately took three sacks and tossed a pair of picks in Minnesota territory, the first of which was a pick-six in the first quarter. Browning has demonstrated the ability to play appreciably better than he demonstrated Sunday in a game that got out of hand due largely to turnovers, but atoning for the poor performance in Week 4 could be a heavy lift with a road trip to Denver for a Monday night, Sept. 29 date with the Broncos on tap.
Browning shouldn't cost much in a One-QB league, you may even be able to get him for free. In leagues where you can start more than one quarterback I would expect someone to spend their entire FAB budget on him. Browning has completed nearly 75% of his career 275 attempts and has averaged 7.5 yards per attempt. The sacks and interceptions will probably be bad, but unless those are heavily penalized in your league you shouldn't care.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Week 3 Waiver Priority List
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Browning stepped up for Joe Burrow (toe) in Week 2 against Jacksonville with 241 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, along with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Browning started seven games for the Bengals in 2023 when Burrow was out with a wrist injury and averaged 22.2 Fantasy points per game. Burrow is going to need surgery, so Browning could be Cincinnati's starter until potentially Week 15. In one-quarterback leagues, Browning is worth adding for up to 5 percent of your remaining FAB. In Superflex and two-quarterback leagues, Browning is worth potentially all of your remaining FAB.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Looks set for significant run
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Browning appears set to take over as Cincinnati's starting quarterback for at least several weeks, with Joe Burrow (toe) slated to undergo surgery and expected to be facing a three-month recovery timetable, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.
Browning stepped in to relieve the injured Burrow during Sunday's 31-27 victory over the Jaguars, completing 21 of 32 pass attempts for 241 yards and two touchdowns and three interception while also scoring on a game-winning, one-yard touchdown carry. The presence of the standout receiver duo of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will assist Browning's efforts to produce while stepping in as Cincinnati's starter under center, beginning with a Week 3 matchup with the Vikings. The Bengals currently have Brett Rypien on the practice squad but are likely to add additional quarterback depth in the near future. While Browning may face additional competition in the weeks to come, he now becomes a priority add in fantasy formats that allow multiple signal-callers to be started.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Works only in mop-up duty in 2024
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Browning didn't throw a pass over three regular-season games in 2024. He rushed twice for minus-2 yards.
A season-ending injury to Joe Burrow in Week 11 of 2023 gave Browning an opportunity for substantial playing time, but Burrow remained healthy throughout 2024, and Browning consequently spent almost the entire campaign on the bench. Browning signed a two-year contract with Cincinnati last April, so he's slated to work as Burrow's backup again next season.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Out with rib injury
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Browning (ribs) won't play in Saturday's preseason game against Chicago, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.
Browning played in the preseason opener but threw for only 52 yards on 18 pass attempts, and he then missed practice this week with a rib injury sustained during the game. Coach Zac Taylor said he expects the QB to "miss some time" but didn't go into further detail.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Struggles in preseason opener
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Browning and the Bengals' second-team offense struggled in the preseason opener against the Bucs. Browning ended up completing 10 passes on 18 attempts for only 52 yards and an interception.
Browning helmed seven drives against the Bucs, with only one lasting more than three plays, and that one ended in a missed field goal. It's only one preseason game, but Browning did not build off of last season's better-than-expected performance.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Signed through 2025
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Browning signed a two-year contract with the Bengals on Tuesday.
Undrafted back in 2019, the QB spent two years on Minnesota's practice squad and then two seasons on Cincinnati's. Browning finally got his shot in 2023, winning the No. 2 QB job for the Bengals and eventually replacing an injured Joe Burrow (wrist) for the final seven and a half games of the season. Browning played surprisingly well down the stretch, with 15 total TDs (three rushing) and seven turnovers (all INTs) while leading all qualified passers in completion percentage (70.4) and ranking fifth in yards per attempt (8.0). The 28-year-old's status as an exclusive-rights free agent this offseason essentially locked him into staying with the Bengals, and the two-year deal now sets him up to be a restricted free agent after 2025. His solid performance in 2023, combined with 2-3 more years of team control, could make Browning a trade target for QB-needy teams, though there haven't been rumblings of interest this spring.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Throws three TDs in Week 18 win
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Browning completed 18 of 24 passes for 156 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in Sunday's 31-14 win over the Browns. He added 18 yards on two rushing attempts.
Browning was picked off on Cincinnati's first possession but led touchdown drives on the next three. That stretch included a six-yard touchdown pass to Joe Mixon and a three-yard touchdown pass to Andrei Iosivas, as well as a Mixon rushing touchdown. Browning added a seven-yard touchdown pass to Iosivas in the third quarter. After Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11, Browning threw for 1,936 yards with a 12:7 TD:INT and three rushing touchdowns in seven starts and one relief appearance. Browning's strong finish is likely to earn the 27-year-old quarterback at least a backup role next season, be it in Cincinnati or elsewhere.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Held in check in Week 17 loss
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Browning completed 19 of 33 passes for 197 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions in Sunday's 25-17 loss to the Chiefs. He added seven rushes for 32 yards and an additional score.
Browning got the Bengals' offense off to a hot start, as the team recorded 17 points through their first three possessions. In that span, he threw a seven-yard touchdown to Joe Mixon and also bowled through several defenders on a one-yard rush into the end zone. However, the team failed to score again, and Browning's stat line suffered. He's played admirably in relief of Joe Burrow (wrist) since Week 11, though he could be in a tough spot in a Week 18 matchup against the Browns with both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins currently playing at less than 100 percent.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Three interceptions in Week 16 loss
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Browning completed 28 of 42 passes for 335 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in Saturday's 34-11 loss to the Steelers. He also threw a two-point conversion and rushed once for no gain.
Browning had a few key errors that contributed to Cincinnati's 24-0 halftime deficit. He threw a ball up for grabs for an interception in Pittsburgh's end zone in the first quarter, then tossed another interception in the second quarter before adding an incompletion on fourth-and-1 from Pittsburgh's five-yard line just before the two-minute warning in the first half. Browning connected with Tee Higgins for an 80-yard touchdown on his first pass of the second half and followed it up with a two-point conversion to Joe Mixon, but he proceeded to throw another interception and another incomplete pass on fourth down as the Bengals failed to cut further into the deficit. Despite his numerous turnovers, Browning exceeded 300 passing yards for the third time in the last four games. He'll look to bounce back in Week 17 against the Chiefs.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Big second half in 324-yard effort
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Browning completed 29 of 42 pass attempts for 324 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the 27-24 overtime win against the Vikings on Saturday.
Browning mostly struggled in the first half, though he narrowly missed two big throws -- one to Charlie Jones and one to Tee Higgins -- and he would have had a much bigger game if either of those targets had landed. Browning would go on to hit Higgins for two touchdown strikes in the second half, which is an encouraging sign given that Browning had otherwise shown hints of growing dependent on YAC yardage from his running backs and tight ends. The problem is that Ja'Marr Chase left the game with a shoulder injury, and it's not clear if he'll be available as Browning and the Bengals head to Pittsburgh in Week 16.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Sit Him (Lineup Decisions)
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Browning has been excellent at locating open targets over his three starts, but he's doing so without pushing the ball far downfield. Of his 87 pass attempts in those starts, 63 traveled nine or fewer Air Yards while nine went 15 or more yards downfield. That's a pretty telling sign that he's been much more of a distributor than a gunslinger. He also has thrown ONE pass into the end zone in those three games. The Vikings will bring a blitz-heavy pass rush and a zone-heavy coverage unit behind; they've allowed a league-high 84.8% catch rate in their past four games, but for just 7.2 yards per catch with 10 completions of 20-plus yards and three receiving touchdowns. Browning's pass protection should hold up, but it's really tough to expect him to keep finding big plays against arguably the best defensive unit he's seen this season. One QB has thrown two touchdowns against the Vikings in their past nine games.
Browning actually came out higher than Minshew in the first run of my projections, but his floor is much lower. Still, when you have Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd the job isn't as difficult as it is in some places.
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Bengals' Jake Browning: Elite numbers in primetime upset
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Browning completed 32 of 37 passes for 354 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in the Bengals' 34-31 overtime win over the Jaguars on Monday night. He also rushed twice for 22 yards and another score and brought in his only target for minus-7 yards.
Browning was near perfect in a performance no one could have seen coming, with the fourth-year pro averaging 9.6 yards per attempt and connecting with eight different targets on the night. His one touchdown toss, a 76-yard pass to Ja'Marr Chase down the left sideline early in the third quarter, broke a 14-14 tie at the time, and the emerging signal-caller added a one-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth before eventually calmly leading a game-winning 12-play drive in overtime. Browning has completed a jaw-dropping 81.0 percent of his passes over his first two starts while compiling three total touchdowns and only one interception in those contests, affording him an avalanche of momentum heading into a Week 14 home matchup against the Colts.
