Browning Poised to Make First NFL Start In Monday Night Football Game
Jake Browning's NFL patience continues to pay off with increasing opportunity.
In his fifth pro season, the Cincinnati Bengals back-up quarterback and former University of Washington standout could make his first pro start in the Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams because Joe Burrow is questionable to play while dealing with a calf injury.
Burrow injured his calf during training camp and re-injured it during last Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which subsequently limited his practice time this week.
This situation emerges two weeks after Browning made the first regular-season appearance of his lengthy pro football career in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns after Burrow was pulled early from the 24-3 loss.
In that game, Browning threw one pass that fell incomplete and basically ran out the clock, but he's gained the trust of the coaching staff and his teammates to do more.
"I’ve got a lot of confidence in him to be able to run the offense,” receiver Tee Higgins told reporters this week.
After throwing for more than 12,296 yards as a four-year starter for the Huskies, Browning went undrafted and originally joined the Minnesota Vikings practice squad before ending with the Bengals last season.
He's paid a lot of dues to get to this point as a confident NFL player.
"I feel like I've always been a good player," Browning said. "It's just whether or not you get the reps has been my story. In practice going against our defense, I felt I had a good camp there, and then playing well in the preseason and finishing strong. I don't think there are many quarterbacks in the NFL who took more reps in the month of August than I did."
Browning was so sound during preseason play he won Cincinnati's back-up job rather than be relegated to another practice-squad stint. In the exhibition games, he completed 32 of 45 passes for 277 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He also rushed for 55 yards on 6 attempts.
He's ready to go in what amounts to a Super Bowl LVI matchup and a primetime outing that will be shown on ESPN.
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