Cincinnati Bengals Practice Report: Jake Browning Shines in Joe Burrow’s Absence

Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning looked calm and cool running the first-team offense on Day 1 of life without Joe Burrow. And Browning tried to play it the same way afterward in the locker room, downplaying his performance before he finally admitted, yeah, that was pretty freakin’ fun.

Jake Browning Shines at Day 3 of Cincinnati Bengals Training Camp

“Obviously, it feels good. I’m not gonna act like I don’t feel really good about it,” Browning said after an impressive performance, particularly in the red zone, where he made some throws into tight windows for touchdowns.

“I think it’s something where maybe everybody else is seeing it, but I feel like I’ve been good for a while,” Browning said. “It’s cool to have an opportunity to show that, but I’m not surprised when all of a sudden I go and play well. I’m confident in myself. But the key is to keep stacking days and put together good preseason games and keep putting out good tape.”

Browning read a busted coverage on one of his first plays in 11-on-11 drills and hit a wide-open Trenton Irwin, who turned upfield and outran the entire defense for a long touchdown. A few plays later, he hit Ja’Marr Chase in stride on a deep pass up the sideline.

“I put in my head today to just try to get open and give him as much space as possible today,” Chase said.

In the red zone, Browning hooked up with Tyler Boyd on a touchdown that lit up the sideline.

Browning also connected with Irwin on a leaping grab along the back line of the end zone. Like Browning taking advantage of Burrow’s absence, Irwin made the most of his reps with wide receiver Tee Higgins being one of several starters who sat out of team drills while a few others didn’t practice at all.

“I had a good day, but that was probably my favorite one in the back of the zone that Jake threw,” Irwin said. “Today definitely was a confidence boost for everybody. We’ve got a lot of weapons. We’ve got a lot of pieces. Jake did great today. To see everyone go out there and not miss too much of a step was great.

“We’ve got Joe, probably the best quarterback in the NFL, not out there, so we’ve got to be able to grow and learn as individuals, as a team. We’re only going to be better because of this.”

Trevor Siemian, whom the team signed May 3, will take the first-team reps Saturday, head coach Zac Taylor said. And next week, they’ll begin rotating the first-team duties two days at a time to allow each quarterback to get into a rhythm and see which will be the best option for however long Burrow is out.

Siemian has 30 career starts, while Browning, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019, has never played an NFL snap. But Browning said he’s ready for this.

“I feel like the only thing I can really control is just for the last two years being really engaged for long periods of time where I’m probably not getting a ton of reps and knowing that ‘yeah, at some point this is gonna work,'” Browning said.

“I’ve been working hard for two years — really for going on five years now — and at some point, I’m gonna get an opportunity to show that. You just keep working hard and have faith that, at some point, it’s gonna show. But yeah, I’m not a newbie.”

This is Browning’s third year in Cincinnati, and he’s the one Burrow and some of the receivers go straight to on the sideline to ask what he saw. Toward the end of 2022, the Bengals elevated him from the practice squad to the game-day roster. It was believed at the time to be a reward for knowing the offense so well and working so hard, but Browning said Friday it was part of a pact to keep him in Cincinnati.

“Another team tried to sign me, so that was kind of where that came from,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that. But yeah.”

If he keeps performing the way he did Friday, the Bengals may not be able to sneak through to the practice squad this year.

Defense Holds Its Own

While Browning and Siemian both moved the offense and made plays in the red zone, the defense had its moments as well. And in a lot of instances, it’s a similar case where guys are getting more reps with cornerback Chidobe Awuzie still working his way back from the ACL injury.

Second-round pick DJ Turner continues to get his hands on balls, although not quite long enough.

“I’ve dropped too many picks. I’m not happy right now,” Turner said despite flashing in each of the first three practices.

Right before they went out to practice Friday, defensive tackle DJ Reader told Turner he needs to hold on to one of those picks. Then early on, it looked like he had one while battling rookie Andrei Iosivas, but once again, the ball got away.

“I should’ve caught that one,” Turner said. “I had it, then he kind of knocked it out, so I was trying to regain it, and when I hit the ground, it just popped out.”

Allan George, who made the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt last year, also had a couple of impressive pass breakups Friday. One came against Iosivas in the back corner of the end zone, with Awuzie running off the sideline to congratulate him. The other was a diving PBU along the back line of the end zone on a Siemian pass intended for Kwamie Lassiter II.

“I knew I wasn’t gonna miss, but I knew I wasn’t gonna be in position to pick it. But with my length, I figured I could get there, so I just went for it. That’s my favorite type of PBU ever is to get a diving one. Those look so clean to me. Not that I just dive intentionally when I don’t need to, but yeah, I love doing that.”

Quote of the Day

Iosivas, the rookie sixth-round pick from Princeton, was signing autographs after practice when a youngster asked him who he was and what position he plays.

“You’ll know who I am pretty soon,” Iosivas told him.

“Just some light banter,” Iosivas said later in the locker room. “I like them to see me as a real person sometimes. As a rookie, not a lot of people know you, but when you get into that spotlight, they think you’re some superstar, so I like to have some lighthearted conversations to break the barrier. It’s all fun.”

Iosivas made an impressive catch along the sideline on a ball from Siemian on their first rep in 11s.

But he took exception to the PBU credited to George on that play in the corner of the end zone that brought Awuzie off the bench.

“That was P.I.,” he said. “Dude, my vert is 39/40 inches. I got two inches off the ground on that.”

Training Camp Attendance

In addition to Higgins, right tackle Jonah Williams was dressed but didn’t do any work in team drills, while Reader and tight end Irv Smith Jr. didn’t practice at all.

“There’s a whole group of people on the third day that we’re trying to be mindful of,” Taylor said when asked about Higgins not doing any team drills.

Punter Drue Chrisman has yet to practice after suffering a medical emergency that required hospitalization Wednesday morning at the facility. Taylor said Chrisman is out of the hospital but will still need to undergo daily tests to monitor his situation, and his timeline to return is unknown.