Bengals Roster: Realistic expectations for Jake Browning in 2023
The Cincinnati Bengals signed Jake Browning to their practice squad in September 2021 and he's remained with the team ever since. The Washington product went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Minnesota Vikings following that year's draft.
Browning remained a Viking until he was waived by the team in 2020 and then he found a new home with the Bengals the next year. Although the former Huskie has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game, he's clearly made a positive impression on the Bengals coaching staff, as he was signed to a reserve/future contract earlier this year.
The Bengals drug their feet a bit on signing a veteran backup quarterback and once Brandon Allen signed with the San Francisco 49ers, it started to feel more and more likely that Browning would be Joe Burrow's backup in 2023, which left fans feeling a bit worried.
Cincinnati ended up signing journeyman Trevor Siemian and he became the likely backup for Burrow due to his experience in the league. Browning might have something to say about that though.
What should Bengals fans expect from Jake Browning in 2023?
Prior to training camp, I would have predicted that Browning would be the third-string signal-caller and therefore, wouldn't be seen much (or at least that'd be the hope). With Burrow's injury leading to Siemian and Browning both getting more starting reps in practice, however, Browning has balled out.
Yes, it's just training camp, which is a whole different ball game from an actual NFL game but Browning has impressed. He could end up having a shot at securing the backup quarterback job and sitting behind Burrow on the depth chart.
Of course, this will depend on how the Washington product performs in preseason games. If he looks good there too and Siemian underwhelms, Jake Browning could end up winning the backup job and holding the clipboard (or whatever device it is that backup quarterbacks hold now).
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As of now, I'd still predict that Siemian wins the job over Browning but he's making a strong case to be QB2.