CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning was rolling along with a 24-0 lead and in the process of doing something the franchise hadn’t achieved in at least 24 seasons when things got heated.
It wasn’t an explosion, but more of a slow build.
It started with a glare to the sideline and a disgusted shaking of his head after head coach Zac Taylor called a naked bootleg that had Browning spinning out of his play fake to find himself face to face with defensive end Isaiah McGuire, who planted him on the turf after he got off a sidearm pass to tight end Tanner Hudson.
The next play was more of the same, with Browning spinning out of a play fake and into the waiting arms of defensive end Alex Wright, who sacked him and jarred the bar loose before Browning could corral it.
Bengals QB Jake Browning Regrets Cussing at Zac Taylor
Browning got to his feet and screamed at the sidelines.
“No more f—kin’ nakeds,” he screamed at Taylor.
“I just lost my cool,” Browning said. “Luckily Zac is a very forgiving person and not a jerk. Because if I were him, I would have screamed at me in the helmet.”
The #Bengals were up 24-0 and on their way to their first 99-yard TD drive since at least 2000 when Jake Browning started cussing at Zac Taylor after this play.
Both of them talked about it postgame. Story posting soon. pic.twitter.com/Oh48E7p55F— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) January 7, 2024
Taylor didn’t exactly let it go, but he was able to de-escalate the situation some.
“I was biting at him a little bit on the headset,” he said with a smile. “We had a good little communication there.”
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The sack set up 3rd-and-18, and Browning answered with one of his most impressive throws of the day, a 25-yard completion to Trenton Irwin at the 7-yard line.
Two plays later, Browning hit rookie Andrei Iosivas for a 7-yard touchdown pass to put the Bengals up 31-0, and he was running off the field he stopped at the sideline and shared a laugh with Taylor.
“He was great as always. He’s always here,” Browning said, holding his hand flat and perpendicular above the dais as he moved it slowly. “I was through the roof pissed off. I can’t be doing that to the guy who gave me a shot.”
The naked bootlegs have been a strength of Browning’s, which is why Taylor has increased the frequency in which he calls them. But they always come with risk as an unblocked defender is the responsibility of the quarterback to beat.
The throw Browning made to Hudson to avoid McGuire on the first of the two nakeds was impressive. Calling it “sidearm” hardly does justice to the arm angle Browning used to deliver the pass.
Another element that has made Browning’s seven-game tenure as starting quarterback so memorable was the 3rd-and-25 pass to Irwin with three defenders in front of him and three behind. Last week at Kansas City, he converted 4th-and-18 with a 23-yard pass to Tyler Boyd. In the Week 15 comeback win against Minnesota, he completed a 3rd-and-21 pass to Ja’Marr Chase for 24 yards on the team’s game-tying drive.
“I was really proud of Jake,” Taylor said, speaking about his seven-week performance as a whole. “We were playing really meaningful football that kept us in the chase. I thought he performed very well and gave us a lot of confidence in the future for our backup job.”
Rarer than cussing at the head coach or converting 3rd-and-18 is what Browning was able to accomplish with the rest of the offense during the drive that contained both of those situations.
The possession started at the 1-yard line and ended with Iosivas catching his second touchdown of the game, marking the first 99-yard touchdown drive the Bengals have had since at least 2000, making the tense exchange something Browning and Taylor could laugh about after the win.
“One of the things that is most impressive about being in this building is Zac encourages you to be who you are,” Browning said. “I’ve never felt the pressure to get up in front of the team be the rah-rah guy because I’m the quarterback for these last couple games.
“Protect the team but be yourself,” Browning added. “And that’s not the case everywhere. There’s a ton of effort and thought to intentionally crate a culture where people can be themselves.”
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