Jake Browning's investment in himself could lead to his first NFL start with Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning was an undrafted free agent because scouts didn’t think he had any standout traits. The knock on him in college at the University of Washington was that he didn’t have a strong arm. Browning was mobile, but he didn’t run the ball much in the Pac 12.

He knew that he’d have to get a lot better to make it through an NFL training camp. Browning invested in himself, improved and survived three years on NFL practice squads. After winning a backup quarterback battle for the first time in his career, he opened the season on the Bengals’ 53-man roster behind quarterback Joe Burrow.

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Now with Burrow battling a calf injury, Browning could make the first start of his NFL career on "Monday Night Football" against the Los Angeles Rams. Browning acknowledges that he wouldn’t be in the NFL if he hadn’t sought out new coaches, embraced new technology and taken advantage of opportunities to become a different player.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Browning said. “My career would have been over by now if I didn’t adjust. You get told so many times that you’re not good enough to be on the 53 (man roster). You can either start second-guessing yourself and getting (upset) you’re not getting opportunities. Or you can look at what you need to get better at to change the result.”

Browning was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year at Washington. But throughout his career, he didn’t have the tools he needed to make it to the NFL. Browning had below average arm strength, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

One summer, he ramped up his weight lifting program to try to add velocity to his throws. That didn’t work.

“My whole time at Washington was about getting a stronger arm, but no one understood how,” Browning said. “It was like putting the wrong answer down on a test and no one telling you what the right answer is. You keep guessing. Finally, someone said, ‘Here’s the answer.’ ”

After his college career ended, Browning worked out at a 3DQB facility in California. He stepped outside of his comfort zone and looked to analytics and science to try to find the answers he was looking for.

A trainer at 3DQB gave Browning a bat and had him swing it to track his rotational force. Then, Browning dropped to his knees and swung the same bat. Browning was creating just as much force when he was down on his knees, which showed that he wasn’t using his hips or his legs enough in his throwing motion.

Growing up, Browning never played a “rotational sport” like tennis, baseball or golf. Through his work with 3DQB, he realized that he needed to strengthen muscles in his lower body so he could rotate with more force.

And as a result, Browning’s throws had more velocity.

“That kept me in the league,” Browning said.

The Minnesota Vikings signed Browning as an undrafted free agent and kept him on their practice squad through training camp in 2021. Browning barely played in the preseason. After he got cut, Browning thought his NFL career was over.

He reached out to former coaches who were at Sacramento State and Oregon. Browning asked them if they’d take him on as a volunteer assistant coach. Two days before Browning was officially going to get into coaching, the Bengals called and offered him a spot on their practice squad.

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Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told Browning that he loved the game he played against Fresno State in 2017.  In that game, Browning completed 19 of 22 passes for Washington with 255 passing yards. It was an unremarkable game in Browning’s career, but Taylor had watched it as he prepped for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Browning’s dream of playing in the NFL stayed alive when he signed with the Bengals. But in 2021 and 2022, the Bengals viewed him as just practice squad depth.

Heading into the 2022 season, the coaching staff told Browning that the backup quarterback job was Brandon Allen’s to lose.

“Those are the frustrating (training camps),” Browning said. “No matter how well I played, the other guy had to play bad.”

When he saw the field in the second halves of 2022 preseason games, Browning played well enough to show the Bengals that he could be a long-term backup. He impressed the coaches with his mobility, accuracy, anticipation and command of the offense.

For the first time since he was in college, Browning also had real game tape that he could study and learn from. Burrow told Browning that he could improve his footwork by working with Jordan Palmer, a private quarterbacks coach who works with Burrow during the offseason.

Burrow and Browning worked out together over the summer, and Browning felt like he took another step forward with his mechanics.

"Jake's prepared,” Burrow said. “He's as prepared as I've ever seen him. He practices really hard. He prepares in the film room really hard. I have all the confidence in the world in him.”

Entering training camp in 2023, the coaching staff told Browning that he’d be a part of a true battle with Trevor Siemian to be the team’s backup quarterback. When Burrow injured his calf, Browning was suddenly getting first-team reps.

On his first day as the first-team quarterback during training camp, Browning completed a few deep throws to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Browning had an up-and-down camp that included too many interceptions, but he impressed his teammates with his confidence.

Browning started pulling receivers aside and explaining to them what he was looking for on specific routes.

“He was being a vocal leader, as he should,” Higgins said. “It built some confidence (in him).”

If Burrow is out on Monday, then Browning will get to play a complete game for the first time since college. He has a lot to prove and a lot on the line. A good performance could show the rest of the NFL that Browning is a quality backup, and it might be the only chance he gets to start this season.Browning has spent the last four years preparing for this opportunity to show what he can do.

“A lot of guys get to their third or fourth years on the practice squad, or maybe I’m the first one,” Browning said. “It’s easy to say, ‘I’m getting (a raw deal). I’m just going to wait until I get my opportunity.’ Or you start to question yourself. I’ve always had a ton of confidence in myself. I’ve always had the thought at some point I’d get the opportunity.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jake Browning could start for the Bengals on 'Monday Night Football'