Rapport Between Bengals QB Jake Browning, WR Mitch Tinsley Something Offense Can Lean into with Joe Burrow on IR

CINCINNATI – In five preseason and regular seasons games this year, wide receiver Mitch Tinsley leads the Cincinnati Bengals in touchdowns, and he's second in receiving yards.

All three of Tinsley’s touchdowns have been thrown by Jake Browning, the team’s backup-turned-starter after Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury that will require surgery.

All three TDs also were on the upper edge of the eye-popping scale, with Sunday’s 13-yarder against the Jacksonville Jaguars being the most impressive yet as Tinsley fought off tight coverage to make a one-handed snag for a 13-yard score that tied the game at 17-17 in the third quarter.

TINSLEY TOUCHDOWN

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“I feel like good things happen when I throw it up to Mitch,” Browning said after the game with a nod also to his 13- and 21-yard scoring strikes to Tinsley in the preseason win at Washington.

Those scoring strikes, the second of which dropped Burrow’s jaw, don’t count toward official stats.

But it would be wrong to say they didn’t count for something now that Browning and Tinsley will be working together on Sundays for at least the next three months.

“It wasn't just that game,” Tinsley said. “OTAs, training camp, all those reps we got in practice. That's kind of what made that moment a little easier.”

Sunday was the ultimate indicator of what those preseason touchdowns and all those training camp reps meant.

It comes down to trust.

The play was a run-pass option against a look that almost always results in a run. But Browning saw Tinsely with a favorable matchup, went for it and cashed in.

“It starts in practice and off the field, with me letting him know I’m going to be in the right spot,” Tinsley said. “It comes down to him trusting me and throwing the ball.”

Trust often develops between backup quarterbacks and the receivers deeper on the depth chart. Because of how many reps they log together in the offseason and training camp.

Andrei Iosivas was a beneficiary of that connection as a rookie in 2023 when Browning took over following Burrow’s wrist injury.

With Burrow at quarterback for 10 games, Iosivas had four catches on six targets for 23 yards and two touchdowns.

Once Browning took over for the final seven contests, Iosivas had 11 catches on 19 targets for 93 yards and two scores.

“We’re taking all the reps together, that’s kind of how it goes,” Iosivas said. “That definitely helped with our rapport, and our relationship as well.”

But this isn’t the typical scenario of a backup quarterback entering the fray.

In addition to the seven games Browning started in 2023, he’s logged a lot of first-team reps in training camp in 2022 when Burrow was out with the appendectomy as well as the following year when Burrow went down with the calf.

So Browning has a great rapport with Chase and Higgins as well.

But as is always the case, teams are going to do everything they can to take those two out of the equation, which could lead to Browing leaning more into his chemistry with Iosivas and Tinsley.

“I think any rapport that's established with guys that you've been around for a long time is valuable,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “And again, this is year 5 for Jake here. So all of these guys know him, he knows them, and that's another reason why we have confidence.”

Tinsley has been in the league since signing with Washington as an undrafted college free agent out of Penn State in 2023.

He played two games in 2023 and was on the practice squad in 2024.

Even before the big preseason game against the Commanders, Browning talked about how impressed he had been with Tinsley in camp.

Then Tinsley’s touchdown against the Jaguars marked the first catch of his career.

“I told Mitch, and I told the team just now, that he probably had the hardest battle to be in this position because we signed him at a strange time right after the season in January,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Monday. “The scouts liked him. They knew him. I didn't know much about him. So it's not like we put him in a position in April, May and June to see what this guy is made of.

“And then he made all the plays he made in the preseason game, and so we're not afraid to put him out there in any moment,” Taylor continued. “He went out there and made a one-handed catch for his first career reception, first career touchdown. It didn't surprise anybody. He finally has an opportunity, but there was nobody that was surprised.”

Including Tinsley himself.

In addition to not being surprised, he’s not satisfied.

“In the moment, I was very excited,” Tinsley said after the game. “But my emotions now, I'm moving toward the future. This is just the beginning for where I'm trying to go. I don't want this to be a one-hit wonder. It's one touchdown, and I'm glad it was my first, but I'm moving on to better.”