Bengals quarterback Jake Browning heads to Denver for Monday night's game against the Broncos (8:15-Cincinnati's Channel 9) looking to build on his league-leading number.

He leads all NFL passers who have at least 100 pass attempts with a 69.9% career completion percentage.

"My incompletions need to be incompletions," Browning said after Thursday's practice. "They can't be picks. You complete 70% of your passes, and if I can walk away from the game saying, 'I completed 70% of my passes and those two picks I found a way to either check it down or throw it away,' then you're walking away … at least I didn't put us in a bad situation."

And he did hit 70% last week on 19 of 27.

"I think that's where the emotional part of it all comes in, where you have a tough game and there's obviously too much blame or too much credit to the quarterback," Browning said. "Everybody is riding this emotional wave of wins and losses, so I think for me, focusing on what those things are and how to minimize these bad plays, my bad plays need to be incompletions. And that's a big focus."

Exhibit A. Browning is looking at the pick-six he threw last Sunday on the second drive of the game on second-and-nine from the Vikings 29 down 7-0. He moved from pressure and tried to hit running back Chase Brown in a congested red zone, but safety Harrison Smith tipped it into the arms of cornerback Isaiah Rodgers for an 87-yard pick-six.

"I've got to survive the down. I watch some other quarterbacks and guys miss throws and guys make bad reads, but they find a way for their bad plays to be incompletions," Browning said. "When you look at my film as a whole, so far there's been a lot of good and there's been not a significant amount of bad, but my bad plays are detrimental to the team in the form of turnovers. I need to find a way to … throw the ball away so it's just incompletions and live to fight another day. That was the main takeaway from that."

Browning is used to the pomp and circumstance of a Monday nighter on the road. He got his first win in a MNF at Jacksonville two years when he cut the lights to shreds while completing 86% of his 39 passes for the fifth most accurate game in Bengals history and an overtime victory.

He's looking for a summer re-run in the second week of fall.

"I remember being pretty efficient. I felt like we were able to not be one-dimensional. The run game was good, we had a couple good screens that kind of helped me get into a rhythm and then was able to finish out a close game just by finding completions and keeping the ball moving forward. I've got a lot of good players on offense with me, so the takeaway from that is just get it in their hands and be efficient," Browning said.

"The best thing I did in that game was just be in the moment, find completions, stay pretty even keel, and I'm hoping to do the same Monday night."

Changing of the Guard?

Right guard Dalton Risner (calf) went full Thursday after leaving last Sunday after 36 plays, but Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said they're looking at options there. One is rookie Jalen Rivers after the fifth-rounder took the last 23 plays of the game in Minnesota.

Teaming with third-round left guard Dylan Fairchild, that would be quite rare. Neither was born the last time the Bengals started two rookie guards. In the '96 opener in St. Louis before the Rams moved back to L.A., third-rounder Ken Blackman started at right guard and seventh-rounder Rod Jones started at left.

But they're bullish on both guys. They think Rivers is athletic and smart enough to eventually play all five spots, and Fairchild rates 38^th among the 92 guards graded by PFF.

That's ahead of last year's starting right guard, Alex Cappa (65^th for the Raiders), three-time Pro Bowler Wyatt Teller (42 for the Browns), and former Bengals first-rounder Kevin Zeitler (45 for the Titans)

"There have been really no surprises," Fairchild said after Thursday's practice. "You know that it's a detail-oriented game. If you're not detailed, you get exposed. And that's not a surprise. You know that playing college, playing football. At the end of the day, it's still football. The details are just greater, the fundamentals are greater. You really have to emphasize that. What it really comes down to is what separates great from good and bad from good is details."

Wilson Tries To Nix Bo

Bengals captain and linebacker Logan Wilson didn't play when the Bengals beat the Broncos last year in overtime at Paycor Stadium as he dealt with his surgically-repaired knee. But he watched it, and he came away with how well rookie quarterback Bo Nix led the offense.

Not to mention the desperate heave off his back foot that went for a tying 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marvin Mims with eight seconds left in regulation.

"His long ball was spot on," Wilson said. "They like to move the pocket with him, and he's very athletic. He looks to move around, and that's definitely part of their offensive game plan."

How good is Nix? He's making his 21^st start Monday and has thrown 34 touchdowns and 15 interceptions with a completion percentage of 66 and a passer rating of 91.9.

In his first 20 starts, Joe Burrow had thrown 34 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with a passer rating of 95 and a completion percentage of 66.6.

Slants and Screens

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (hamstring), who missed last Sunday's game went limited Thursday, but Taylor sounded confident he could go Monday …

Not so defensive end Shemar Stewart (ankle), who has yet to practice since getting hurt two weeks ago, and Taylor indicated it would be "tough," for him to play in Denver …

Tight end Noah Fant, who has the second-most catches on the team with 12, didn't work Thursday because of a concussion ….

On Monday, Taylor said they dodged a major injury with running back Samaje Perine (finger). On Thursday, the dodge was complete. He was back full …

Wilson says a backer rotation hasn't been discussed after he played 70% of the snaps in Minnesota, his fewest in a game that mattered in three years. But Taylor rested starters as the game went on, when rookie backup Barrett Carter got most of his career-high 18 snaps.

"I think that's obviously up to the coaches. I'm not going to make a big deal of it," Wilson said. "That's not my part. My part is finding a way to do my job to the best of my ability … Just continue to extract all the positives and lead this group." …

Wilson is a key for Carter and rookie starter Demetrius Knight Jr. to get acclimated.

"I'm a big fan of Logan," said defensive coordinator Al Golden. "He's got good command. He's getting us lined up well. We thought Logan really got us set up well the other day. We have to do a better job of finishing.

"Barrett is getting better, there is no doubt about it. When you have three or four sudden changes, you have to sub. We got Barrett in there. His numbers increased because of the fourth quarter and where we were in the game. We'll fight to live another day to this point." …

Wilson is confident he'll continue to adjust given that he's playing his first year with three of his backer mates.

"Some of that just takes time playing next to a guy and understanding how he sees things, where he's going to be on certain fits. He understands where he's supposed to be, but sometimes they see things a little bit differently than you might see them," Wilson said. "It's about getting on the same page, and it comes all the time the more you play with someone." …