'Looks like he's been playing in (NFL) for years': ESPN's Buck, Aikman laud Jake Browning

ESPN's Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were effusive in their praise of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning during Monday night's broadcast of the Bengals' overtime win in Jacksonville, particularly late in the game and after the game.

Buck said on the air that Browning's 86.5 completion percentage was the highest all-time in a quarterback's first or second NFL start.

More of what ESPN's MNF broadcast team had to say about the Bengals' QB:

Buck: "Tonight, it looks like he's been playing in the league for years."

Aikman: "You can play in the league 10-12 years and not have a night like he's had tonight. I mean, this is pretty amazing what he's been able to do. And I couldn't be more impressed with the way he's handled himself, the throws he's been able to make in crunch time. … He's been fun to watch."

Buck: "Most passing yards he's had in a game since he had 354 in college for Washington at home in a win against Utah."

Buck and Aikman raved about Browning, just after Evan McPherson's game-winning field goal.

Buck: "Jake Browning has an NFL win, and man, did he earn it tonight."

Aikman: "Yeah, that was fun to watch. Him coming in off of that tough game last week in the loss against Pittsburgh. And I thought that Zac Taylor also deserves a lot of credit for the way that he opened up the game, allowed him to get into a rhythm and gain some confidence with some easy throws. And then that next possession, they opened things up. And boy did Jake Browning deliver tonight."

Buck: "Browning's 86.5 completion percentage was the highest all-time in a quarterback's first or second career start. Amazing!"

Buck and Aikman had more to say about Browning during ESPN's postgame.

Buck: "When we talked to the members of his coaching staff, in particular Lou Anarumo, the defensive coordinator for the Bengals, I said, 'What did you see from Jake Browning in all of these practices when he's taken on your defense?' He said, 'The team loves him. He has the locker room on his side.' He would sit in defensive-back meetings on Tuesdays, his day off, to just go through plays with the defensive backs. All that experience and all that hard work paid off tonight. And a thrilling win for Jake Browning. In his second NFL start, he was phenomenal."

Aikman told Scott Van Pelt that what Browning did is not easy for a backup.

Buck: "Even his postgame interview with Lisa Salters, he's just very calm, he's smart, you can tell. And once they took the training wheels off him, he played great. And the training wheels were on the first couple of possessions. They were able to move the ball a little bit, but every throw was around the line of scrimmage. And once Zac Taylor said, you know what, let's let this kid play, boy did he play. He was impressive tonight."

Aikman: "And this guy has a track record. I mean, we talked about what he accomplished in high school, what he did there at Washington. He's used to playing at a high level. And that's not always the case with some of these backups. I do think that the way they opened the game was by design, get the ball out quick. But was it gonna continue that way? And they opened it up, as Joe said, pretty quickly there on the next possession. And I agree, he made some unbelievable throws. I mean, he really did. They won this game because of Jake Browning and the way that he played. And he was fun to watch. Because it's not easy to do. What he did tonight is just simply not easy to do. And any backup that you talk to or that watched this would tell you the same thing. So it was a night to remember, and hopefully, for his sake, he has a lot more like them."

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Troy Aikman: What Jake Browning did vs Jacksonville is not easy to do