Bengals: Zac Taylor's simple explanation for Jake Browning's development
The first of 27 wins the Cincinnati Bengals have pulled off since 2021 was a season-opening overtime victory against the Minnesota Vikings. Leading up to the game, the Bengals added a former Vikings quarterback to the practice squad, a move many believed was purely strategic in planning for the first opponent of the year and nothing […]
The first of 27 wins the Cincinnati Bengals have pulled off since 2021 was a season-opening overtime victory against the Minnesota Vikings. Leading up to the game, the Bengals added a former Vikings quarterback to the practice squad, a move many believed was purely strategic in planning for the first opponent of the year and nothing more.
Jake Browning was that quarterback, and he's lasted for far longer than a week.
The Bengals saw potential in Browning when they signed him nearly two years ago. They kept him around for the offseason following a run to the Super Bowl, gave ample preseason snaps in 2022, and even elevated him to the active roster late in the year to prevent him from being signed by another team.
The Browning who's battling for QB2 against a more seasoned veteran in Trevor Siemian isn't the same Browning who came to Cincinnati before the franchise gained national relevance. Accumulating reps over time does wonders for development, and head coach Zac Taylor would say the same thing.
"I think just getting reps," Taylor said of why Browning has progressed this camp. "A lot of times when undrafted guys get into the league, they don't get a lot of reps, they don't get a great opportunity. Maybe they get through three reps in practices, one of them goes negative, those reps turned into one or two the next day. I can't speak to Jake's early part in his career, but since he's been here, we've tried to make an effort to get him as many reps as possible."
Holding on to Browning for this long has proved to be worth it over the past week. Browning has had to take significant reps with the starting offense as Joe Burrow recovers from a calf strain. He hasn't looked like a practice squad QB struggling to hold a spot. He's helped keep the offense on pace without its most important player.
Taylor and Co. haven't had to try too hard to get Browning on the field. Burrow's bad luck with training camp ailments has helped plenty in that regard. The beast that is the NFL provides opportunity for some when it's taken away from others in the most unexpected fashion.
Fortunately, Browning is not wasting the added snaps. He was already set to compete against Siemian, and doing so with Burrow taking the lion's share of reps exclusively with the 1s would've made it tougher to stand out prior to preseason action.
A wrench thrown into the Bengals' plans now has Browning validating what Taylor and the Bengals already believed of him.
"This has been really good for Jake to have these opportunities," Taylor said. "We think highly of him. He's locked in in the quarterback room. He brings something to the table in the quarterback room. So number one, that's a good thing when you've been on the scout team the last couple years. And then number two, he's a talented player who makes things happen and he's out there.
"He's done a really good job evolving in our offense the last couple years, and now he's getting a chance to get a lot of reps with Trevor [Siemian]. And so that's been really good to see the progression he's continuing to make."
As the reps increase, so will the development. It will not be linear for a player like Browning, but many who were once in his shoes never got this far.
Taylor will make sure to keep him going, at least for the next month.
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Featured image via © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
