Jake Browning has officially been replaced and benched as the Bengals’ QB1 while Joe Burrow continues to recover from torn ligaments in his foot.
Browning played poorly over the last three weeks to necessitate the trade for 40-year-old Joe Flacco. In his four appearances with three starts, Browning has completed 64.5 percent of his throws for 757 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The Bengals have gone 0-3 in his three starts.
“I think it sucks, but welcome to pro football,” Browning told reporters on Wednesday, via Jay Morrison of SI.com. “If you don’t play well, you’re gonna get replaced. That’s what I’m going through.”
Browning noted he needs to limit turnovers, but added there are “a lot of other things that kind of contributed to our lack of offensive production.
“I can point to the Denver game where I did take care of the ball, and we put up three points,” Browning said.
“I’m not dumb or arrogant enough to think I didn’t play my role in the offensive struggles, but there’s a lot that goes into it,” Browning added. “But I think there’s a lot of other things that kind of contributed to our lack of offensive production.”
Browning added that he’s pissed off about the situation.
“If I wasn’t pissed, then I shouldn’t be in this locker room,” Browning said.
“I’m aware of the role I played in the offensive struggles over the last few weeks,” Browning added. “But I’m also not shouldering the entire situation. … There’s a lot of different things that need to go into an offense doing well, and one of them is the quarterback taking care of the ball. But there’s a lot of things that go into it.”
While he’s clearly not happy, Browning also understands that the team is going to keep moving forward. And he is still there.
“I’m not gonna walk around sulking because one, no one cares how you’re feeling about it. It is what it is,” Browning said. “And two, I’ve got a little more pride than that to just be sulking around everywhere. So I’m just staying prepared and doing what I’ve got to do.
“The general theme for myself is anybody that’s going through some adversity, whether it’s football or personal stuff, if you go through it and deal with it the right way, there’s no way you don’t come out the other end a better version of who you were,” Browning added. “For me, I’m trying to respond the right way.”
