When Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow suffered a wrist injury against the Baltimore Ravens that resulted in season-ending surgery, most people counted the Bengals out of the AFC playoff race. After all, the Bengals lost that game to fall to 5-5. The next week, QB Jake Browning got his first start of his career despite entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019.
Browning’s first start came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he is preparing to face against this Saturday. That game went well for the Steelers as it ended in a 16-10 win. However, fortunes have changed for both teams since that game. The Steelers are on a three-game losing streak, while Browning brings the Bengals into the matchup on a three-game winning streak. He was asked Tuesday afternoon during his press conference about the difference between preparing for his first start against the Steelers and preparing for this weekend’s game, and TV station WCPO 9 got video of his answer.
“I think having a little bit of success under your belt helps confidence,” Browning said. “Having a couple weeks of feeling like your preparation was where you wanted it to be… I went into the Pittsburgh game the first time really wanting to operate well in the huddle. So I was really practicing making sure I was spitting out play calls clean and didn’t want to have anything unprofessional happen where you’re stuck in the huddle, and you can’t spit out the play call.”
There’s always pressure when you make your NFL debut. It’s a bit different for Browning, who last started a football game in 2018 for the University of Washington Huskies. So when he began his preparations to face the Steelers, it made sense that he wanted to be professional.
As stated above, the game went in the favor of the Steelers. Browning completed 19 of his 26 passing attempts for 227 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also fumbled once, but the Bengals recovered it.
Since then, Browning has helped lead the Bengals to three straight wins, including two overtime wins against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Vikings, the team where he got his start. In between those overtime wins, he also defeated the Indianapolis Colts, the team that the Steelers lost to last Saturday.
Browning’s completion percentage has been high in every game he’s started. In fact, his lowest mark was 69% in the win over the Vikings. He has thrown interceptions in each of his last two games, but he has also thrown for two touchdowns in those same games.
So how different is preparation for this game against the Steelers compared to the first matchup against them? Browning says that he’s feeling a bit better about the huddle, for starters.
“So feel more confident with stuff like that after a couple games,” Browning said. “So now you can really focus on the different looks and going through your reads and stuff like that. I did that before but just having a little bit more of a focus on it.”
Browning has helped get the Bengals back into the thick of the AFC playoff picture at 8-6 with three straight wins. The Steelers, in that same time frame, have seen their playoff odds drop dramatically. However, a big performance against Browning would go a long way to giving those odds a bit of a boost.
It just so happens that the Browning the Steelers faced four weeks ago has more experience and more confidence while focusing more on dissecting defenses rather than making sure he’s not stumbling over his words in the huddle.
