CINCINNATI \u2014 Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said that since quarterback Jake Browning has shown what he can do in the Bengals\u2019 offence and has been a part of the organization for five years, he won\u2019t have to change up the scheme much as Browning takes over under center for the injured Joe Burrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreparation equals confidence,\u201d Taylor said Wednesday as the Bengals (2-0) get ready to face the Minnesota Vikings (1-1) on Sunday. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve prepared for your opportunity, then there\u2019s a true confidence that comes with that.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s nothing they\u2019re going to show me that I haven\u2019t watched and seen and prepared for and thought through in my head and walked through in my own. Jake is an example of someone who\u2019s truly prepared for a moment. And so that\u2019s where his confidence stems from. And now you just go play football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Browning started his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019, and he joined the Bengals\u2019 practice squad in 2021. In 2023, when Burrow missed the second half of the season with a wrist injury, Browning had a winning record (4-3) in seven starts.<\/p>\n
Now with Burrow on injured reserve because of a turf toe injury, Browning gets his next opportunity to show what he can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cExecution breeds a lot of confidence,\u201d Browning said. \u201cMy main goal is just to execute well, play fast, make fast decisions, be decisive and try to help us win and whatever comes as a result of that, or however everybody feels now, I\u2019m pretty focused on doing my job.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Bengals added two potential backups to their practice squad on Tuesday in Mike White and Sean Clifford, the Bengals are moving forward with Browning as their starter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the guy,\u201d Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. \u201d(Browning) and I have a really good relationship. It\u2019s just awesome when you see him get an opportunity and he does what we all believe that he\u2019s going to do and this team believes in him, his coaches believe in him, and man, that goes a long way. That\u2019s why I sit here 2-0, excited, energized, because everything we want to do this year is right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brett Rypien, who signed onto the Bengals’ practice squad in August and joined the active roster on Tuesday, is set up to back up Browning in the short term.<\/p>\n
Rypien, an undrafted free agent out of Boise State, has played in 10 NFL games between 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n
Since he didn\u2019t participate in training camp with the Bengals, he has had to learn the offence on the fly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, you go through the game plan and make sure you know what the protection rules are,\u201d Rypien said. \u201cIf I was going from a jet protection system to a \u2018Mike\u2019 protection system, it\u2019d probably be a lot harder. The calls are similar up front for Minnesota as they are here. It\u2019s really just learning what the pass concepts are and being able to know where everyone is going to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n
White has played in 15 NFL games over the past four years and completed 61.4% of his passes in the regular season. He\u2019s friends with former Bengals Eli Apple, CJ Uzomah and Mitchell Wilcox, who all provided good reviews of Taylor and the Bengals.<\/p>\n
Similar to Rypien and Clifford, White is learning a Bengals system that\u2019s new to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour prep time is critical,\u201d White said. \u201cYour process in the week. Getting reps after practice. You\u2019re not going to get reps in the week because the starter needs it. You commit to a process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clifford was selected by the Packers in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. He hasn\u2019t thrown a pass yet in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Clifford is a Cincinnati native and went to St. Xavier High School.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m back on the field in my hometown,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cI had over 300 messages yesterday. If I didn\u2019t get back to you, I apologize \u2026 It\u2019s a lot of love. I can feel it. I\u2019m excited to be a part of a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said that since quarterback Jake Browning has shown what he can do…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-151307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}