When you least expect it, we get a game like Jaguars-Bengals on a Monday night …
• Jake Browning’s story is fascinating to me. He was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the history of California high school football. He was a program-changer at Washington, leading the Huskies to their best stretch since the 1990s. And, yet, because of physical limitations, he slid right through the 2019 NFL draft.
Four years later, he climbed on to the Monday Night Football stage and completely stole the show.
Browning finished Monday’s OT win in Jacksonville with 354 yards, a touchdown and a 115.5 rating on 32-of-37 passing—a stat line that would qualify as a great one even for the quarterback, Joe Burrow, he’s replacing. And while those numbers might have surprised the Bengals coaches before the game, the way Browning played, based on what they’d seen from him over the past three years, didn’t.
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We’ll get to that in a second, but, first, it’s worth mentioning that Browning’s mere presence on the Bengals’ roster is, in fact, a product of good fortune and circumstance. Ahead of Week 1 in 2021, Cincinnati needed a practice-squad quarterback. Browning had just been cut by the Vikings, after spending two seasons on Minnesota’s practice squad—pushed off the roster by third-round pick Kellen Mond. As the Bengals were looking at their options, the fact that Cincinnati was playing Minnesota that week was a factor in choosing Browning to fill the spot.
That sort of thing is common in the NFL with practice-squad and fringe roster additions; teams will take the opportunity to fill a spot with a player they might be able to mine for information ahead of that week’s game. In this case, Browning used the opportunity to make a big and immediate impression. Even with Burrow and Brandon Allen on the 53-man roster, Browning showed his football IQ quickly, so much so that the Bengals decided to keep developing him—through 2021 and ’22, Browning was never cut off the practice squad.
Which brings us to Monday night’s game against the Jaguars. Cincinnati had a really nice week of practice coming out of Browning’s first start (a loss to Pittsburgh). As a result, Zac Taylor, Brian Callahan and Dan Pitcher had a better feel for how to build a game plan for Browning: doing a little more in the keeper game to get Browning throwing on the move, and a little less than they had out of empty sets, with more 7-man protections across the board.
Now, does that mean the Bengals are going to the playoffs?
It actually could. They’re 6–6 right now, just a game back of the Steelers, Browns, Colts and Texans, who are tied for the three wild-card spots. They play Indianapolis on Sunday, then the Vikings, Steelers, Chiefs and Browns. So, yes, I’m saying there is a chance. And it’s because, in part, of how all those things came together two years ago.
• The Jaguars’ 2022 move to acquire Calvin Ridley at the trade deadline looks even smarter now, with Monday’s news that Christian Kirk will have surgery for a core-muscle injury—a surgery that generally necessitates something more than a short-term recovery.
For the amount of criticism that the Jaguars took for giving Kirk $18 million per in 2022, the receiver has become a really important piece for Jacksonville. Last year, he went for career highs in catches (84), yards (1,108) and touchdowns. And this season provided a pretty good encore, with Kirk on pace to finish with 81 catches, 1,114 yards and four touchdowns before his injury. So by any measure, Kirk’s delivered on his contract and losing him is significant.
That said, Ridley’s close to Kirk in catches (51) and yards (689), and has gotten to the end zone (five TDs) more often. If he’s not a true No. 1, he’s surely close to being one. He gives Jacksonville someone to lean on in Kirk’s absence, with Evan Engram, Zay Jones and even rookie Parker Washington also a part of that mix.
Credit to the Jags for thinking outside the box on this one 13 months ago.
• Jordan Love’s progress reminded me, with so many quarterback situations out there, of a conversation I had with Packers coach Matt LaFleur back in August. I asked him whether he felt like there was real benefit to Love sitting for three years. LaFleur didn’t mince words.
“I think, and this is my opinion, the league would benefit if more guys took that approach,” he said. “What happens is, these guys in a lot of situations get thrust into situations where there’s not a lot of talent around them, and they lose confidence. I’ve seen it happen too many times, and it’s hard to recover from that. I do think that we would be able to develop more quarterbacks if guys were given a couple of years to sit and learn the game, and then go out to play.”
I would agree.
• We got a couple of things on the Jets’ quarterback situation.
First of all, my understanding late Monday was that the decision being made on the starter was between Zach Wilson and Trevor Siemian—Tim Boyle had played his way out of that discussion by then, which colors the team’s decision to cut him.
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Second, on The Athletic report, I can’t say for sure what Wilson might’ve said to his teammates while the staff was mulling what to do. But I do know that players on teams circling the drain often do casually discuss how to handle the end of the year, and protect themselves to get to the finish line in one piece. Think of it the same way you would a guy looking at opting out of a bowl game, ahead of going into the draft pool.
And, again, I’m not saying that’s the case with Wilson; I don’t specifically know him one way or the other. What I am saying is this sort of talk is more common than you might think.
• Giants coach Brian Daboll announced Tommy DeVito will start this week, even with Tyrod Taylor returning. There’s a good lesson in that result for players coming into the league how DeVito did, as an undrafted free agent.
DeVito chose the Giants over more money from the Commanders because he liked the idea of developing under Daboll, and the situation his hometown team could provide him. And in the end, being right about that has put him in position to start games, and continue to evolve as a player. Plus, had DeVito gone to Washington … well, there’s a good chance that staff is gone next year, something that certainly would’ve complicated his situation there.
Yes, money is important in these sorts of calls for players, because there’s no guarantee that more of it is coming. But it’s not the only thing, as DeVito’s success is showing.
• Came across a stat Sunday that is pretty amazing: The Lions have won six consecutive games after losses. Which means, basically, that they haven’t lost consecutive games since starting the 2022 season 1–6. And to build on that, every one of Detroit’s losses since then has been followed by a winning streak of at least three games.
This came up, of course, after the Lions bounced back from their Thanksgiving loss with this week’s win against the Saints. After that win, I asked rookie Jack Campbell about it.
“It’s the response to everything,” Campbell said. “There’s going to be tough times. There’s going to be great times. Just finding that middle ground and riding it and being consistent with what you do. It’s a hats off to all the guys in the locker room, just putting the foot on the gas and not looking back. Right now, it’s just good to come out here with a win. Any time you can win in the National Football League, I feel like that’s a good week, but at the same time having the balance of knowing that let’s clean up some mistakes, push forward because ultimately where we want to get, we just need to keep pushing forward.
“It’s just a sense of urgency. We got a lot of guys that like to compete.”
• Hat tip to Eagles GM Howie Roseman for constantly evolving his roster.
In September, I asked a rival coach (after said coach lost to the Eagles) whether he saw any flaws on the roster. His response was that there were two areas in which Philadelphia could use help: at safety and with an off-ball linebacker. Since then, Roseman addressed both spots with former All-Pro players, trading for the Titans’ Kevin Byard at the deadline, and then signing Shaq Leonard, cut by the Colts, this week.
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Those two aren’t what they once were, and I’m not making them out to be. But they still have something left to give as players, and the Eagles simply took advantage of the fact that both had aged out of their outsized contracts. Getting Leonard, too, should provide a nice jolt for the team, coming off a tough loss.
• I’ve said this before: Banning the hip-drop tackle is more difficult and complicated than people think. One, of course, there are so many ways to get an NFL ballcarrier to the ground. Two, there’s the fact that this is the outgrowth of the Seahawk-rugby tackling technique that’s being taught in an effort to take the head out of the game—and that’s actually had a lot of benefit for players’ well-being.
Obviously, we all hate when players get hurt. We’ll see whether they can figure something out here that safeguards players in these situations without stunting some of the growth that’s come from a positive change.
• On the flip side, we’ve got Mitchell Trubisky/Bailey Zappe, Gardner Minshew/Jake Browning, (probably) Joshua Dobbs/Aidan O’Connell and (maybe) Joe Flacco/C.J. Beathard matchups involving playoff contenders on the ledger this week. So I do understand the desire to do something to keep players on the field.
• Congrats to all 32 of the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees. I try to tell everyone who’ll listen that most pro-football players are actually really good people with big hearts, and those on that list are certainly a testament to it.
