After losing star quarterback Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11 in a game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals looked to be in a world of trouble.
They held a 5-5 record after losing to the Ravens that night, and some felt they may not even make the playoffs.
But with backup QB Jake Browning righting the ship, they have won their last two games and are still in the hunt for a postseason spot in the AFC.
Cincinnati will face the Minnesota Vikings, Browning’s former team, on Sunday, and he said he enjoyed his time there, per Mike Petraglia.
“No, not really. Know a lot of people over there obviously…. I enjoyed my time there a lot. There was a time there where they were the only team that wanted me.” Jake Browning on his time with Vikings.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 12, 2023
Browning went undrafted after four years at the University of Washington, and he spent his first two seasons in 2019 and 2020 on the Vikings’ practice squad.
After he was on Cincinnati’s practice squad for the last two seasons, he earned the team’s second-string QB spot during the preseason, and now the spotlight is on him with Burrow out for the year.
On Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, he went 18 of 24 for 275 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-14 win, and it came on the heels of a 354-yard passing performance the week before when the Bengals got past the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime.
The Vikings are also without their starting quarterback, as Kirk Cousins went down with a torn Achilles in Week 8.
Josh Dobbs filled in nicely under center afterward, but Minnesota will reportedly go with Nick Mullens as their starter versus the Bengals after Dobbs completed fewer than half of his pass attempts in Week 14 versus the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Bengals Star Listed As DNP For Tuesday Practice
