When quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in 2023, Jake Browning got his first chance to play meaningful NFL action.
The Bengals finished 4-3 in Browning’s seven starts, just missing out on the postseason with a 9-8 overall record.
Now that Burrow is back, Browning said in a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio that his 2023 experience should make him a better resource for Burrow as a backup.
“Joe and I have a really good relationship,” Browning said. “I think, obviously, [I’ve] learned a lot from him playing and I’d like to think maybe — I know for myself, I did what he did in the NFL in college, where I showed up and I didn’t watch anyone else play. I played right away. And that’s hard. I don’t think a lot of people realize how hard that is. And so for him to be a rookie and never really watch anyone else play, there’s going to be… Obviously, he’s an unbelievable player, right? He’s one of the best in the NFL and no one’s going to debate that.
“But I’ve got some strengths, too, where I’m sure there are different things where he’s like, oh, OK, that’s how you did this. And there’s those conversations that — I was always helpful before, but there’s a whole ‘nother [level] of, hey, I’ve been in this offense and I’ve had to be the trigger guy. So when he has some concern or something, I can relate and we can have that conversation. So I think that’s been really good.”
By all accounts, Burrow has been recovering well from his wrist injury and is on track to be fine for the start of training camp. But with Browning playing as well as he did in 2023, the Bengals have a fine insurance plan if Burrow has to miss any time. And if he doesn’t, Browning is in a better position now to help Burrow on a game-to-game basis.