Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is evaluating all the quarterbacks on his roster as he mulls a starter for Sunday's game (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) in Green Bay.
It very well could be Jake Browning, the incumbent who has thrown six interceptions in place of Joe Burrow. That's because his backup, Brett Rypien, has been here since only Aug. 27, and the remaining quarterbacks, Cincinnati product Sean Clifford and NFL vet Mike White, arrived on the practice squad Sept. 16.
Browning, who has generated 61 points in the 15 quarters since Joe Burrow got hurt, is in his fifth season with the Bengals. A huge argument for him. Plus, his last quarter was his best when he posted a perfect passer rating throwing for three touchdowns.
Yet while Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher outlined Monday the difficulty of entrusting the offense to quarterbacks with such little time with the playbook, they also said they need better play at the position.
"Clearly, right now, we're in the midst of some evidence where we've got to reevaluate because what we're putting out there is not good enough," Pitcher said.
Taylor says he'll make the call in time for the start of the work week on Wednesday, but realizes not turning to Browning is a heavy lift because during the season only the No. 1 quarterback gets any kind of snaps in practice.
"If you get two reps on a play during the course of the week, a pass play, that's quite a bit. Two full-speed reps," Taylor said. "It's difficult to balance quarterbacks. You're in on one quarterback and need to get a move on. And you've got to find ways to evaluate the other guys that are on the team in different 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."
Yet, Taylor also said, "have to protect the ball."
Clifford, a fifth-round pick of, naturally, the Packers in 2023, has appeared in two games with no starts. White, who won his first NFL start against the Bengals when he was a rookie in 2021 with the Jets, has a 2-5 starting record in the league. Rypien is 2-2.
Taylor painted a picture of all hands on deck with Pitcher and quarterbacks coach Brad Kragthorpe.
"Trying to do everything we can to help speed up the process for them," Taylor said of the backups. "Whether that's been me meeting with them, Pitch talking to them, Brad meeting with them, some (quality control coaches) meeting with them, because we're in game plan mode.
"We have to spend our time getting our team ready to go, but at the same time getting a quarterback a lot of information. It's not just, 'Hey, you're blocking this guy or you're running this route.' You need to know what everybody's running, what all the protections are, what the run plays are, what the checks are, what cadences we utilize."
Just Another Game
After the Bengals this past offseason gave historic deals to wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, as well as nearly doubling All-Pro sacker Trey Hendrickson's salary, their next big money move was for Packers nose tackle T.J. Slaton Jr., by some analytics the best run stopper in the league last year.
"Just another game. There's no bad blood," Slaton said Monday of his four years in Green Bay. "Eventful. Got to leave the country a few times. Nice people, good environment."
Slaton is coming off, stat-wise, his most productive game as Bengal with eight tackles on 50 snaps.
Trading Neighbors
Bengals backup safety P.J. Jules faced off Sunday against his close friend and saw Lions safety Kerby Joseph become the sixth player since 2000 with 20 interceptions in their first four seasons.
"It was like a dream," said Jules, who grew up with Joseph in Orlando, Fla., and traded jerseys with him after the game.
Joseph went to Illinois and got picked in the third round in 2022 by the Lions, hasn't looked back, and is two picks away from tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed on that four-year list. Jules came out of Southern Illinois last season undrafted and ended up on the practice squad before playing his fourth NFL game on Sunday.
But that hasn't stopped Joseph and Jules from staying close via text and talking on the phone. Before the Bengals played last Monday night, Joseph called him and warned, "I see something," and predicted he'd get a pick.
"He just knows where the ball is going. Great instincts," Jules said Monday. "It was crazy out there. We're still trash-talking. If he was near our sideline, he was yelling, 'P.J.!!! Watch this.'"
And when Jules lined up on special teams near the Lions bench, he could hear Joseph giving him the business.
"It was so fun out there," Jules said. "That's my guy."
Slants and Screens
Taylor said right guard Lucas Patrick, who has been on injured reserve the past month, has a chance to come off IR for a return to Green Bay. That's where he spent the first six of his nine NFL seasons with 73 games and 34 starts ,,,
Taylor was quite critical of his own play-calling after Sunday's game and on Monday said he would remain the play-caller.
"I rely on our guys on offense … There's a ton of input there, and those guys do an outstanding job adjusting as the game goes, giving me the information I need," Taylor said. "I rely on them as much as I think any play caller in the league relies on anybody else. So I feel very comfortable. It's a fair question. We score three points in three games in the first half. I totally understand that. But right now, it's going to remain the same." …
He's focused on "finding more opportunities for our playmakers … I care about wins. That's all I worry about. But at the same time, I know that we've got to get more productivity, and that's more opportunity from a lot of our key guys on offense to be able to get the ball in the end zone, and that's me finding the cleanest ways to get them the ball so they can impact the game." …
One of those playmakers, Chase, 25, joined some elite company with Sunday's explosive fourth quarter, where he had two touchdown catches on the way to finishing with 110 yards.
It was his ninth game with at least 100 yards and two touchdown catches. He needs one more such game to tie Randy Moss for most games like that prior to turning 26. Chase has all season. He won't turn 26 until March 1 ….
Another playmaker they would like to highlight is No. 3 receiver Andrei Iovisas. He only had two catches on six targets all season before he grabbed five of seven targets Sunday for a career-high 82 yards.
"(He) was great after the catch. Made a contested play on the slot fade. Dre is about all the right stuff," Pitcher said. "Doesn't say anything. I'm sure there are parts of Dre that wishes he's had more opportunity than he's had so far this year. I'm sure if I was him, that's how I would feel.
"It's always a challenge to get the opportunities to everybody that deserves them, but he proved yesterday that he deserves them. So definitely we've got to find ways to continue to incorporate him." ...
