Zac Taylor evaluating options at QB, will decide starter by Wednesday

After a few games of disappointing play, Jake Browning may not be starting in Week 6 for the Bengals.

Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor told reporters that the club is evaluating its options to start at quarterback against Green Bay.

“We’ll see where it goes,” Taylor said in his Monday press conference. “I think like all personnel decision, we’ve got to evaluate it. Jake’s been very accountable for how the game went for him. I’ve got to be accountable for how the game went for me as well. And so, we’ll continue to progress here through the days.”

Browning completed 26-of-40 passes for 251 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in the 37-24 loss to Detroit. In his four appearances with three starts this season, he’s completed 65 percent of his throws for 757 yards with six touchdowns and eight picks.

The Bengals also have Brett Rypien on their 53-man roster at quarterback. Former Packers QB Sean Clifford and Mike White are on the team’s practice squad. But all of those signal-callers are new to the team. Rypien has been with the club the longest, and he arrived on Aug. 27.

“Trying to do everything we can to help speed up the process for them,” Taylor said. “[W]e’ve tried to be creative in a lot of different ways to get those guys the information to where they can accelerate their learning process as fast as possible.”

Taylor said he will make a decision on the Week 6 starter at QB by Wednesday, largely because it’s not realistic to stage a competition in the practice week.

“You have so few reps. It’s just, every rep is critical,” Taylor said. “I mean, if you get two reps on a play during the week — a pass play — that’s quite a bit, two full-speed reps. So, it’s difficult to balance quarterbacks — you’re in on one quarterback and you need to get a move on. And you’ve got to find ways to evaluate the other guys on the team in other ways — whether that’s on practice squad, whether that’s in group install period.

“You have to use every resource because it is very challenging during the season to get multiple guys reps to evaluate how they’re going to look in your offense, with your receivers, and the O-lineman, and all that stuff — it’s just a real challenge.”