Browning: ‘They never should have cut me!’
Sigh... Just another Viking's QB blunder coming back to burn them...
https://www.inforum.com/sports/pro/ex-vikings-quarterback-jake-browning-they-never-should-have-cut-meNo matter how reporters framed the question, Bengals quarterback Jake Browning wouldn’t take the bait.
Never
mind that the Vikings cut him a couple of seasons ago. He claimed
Saturday’s game in Cincinnati was like any another game on the schedule.
Yet when the Bengals secured their 27-24 victory over the
Vikings with a chip-shot field goal in overtime, Browning sought out a
camera as the ball sailed through the uprights, screaming, “They never
should have cut me!”So much for just like any another game on the schedule.
“You
can’t say that the whole week and then go lose,” Browning said with a
grin. “You kind of just wait until we win and then don’t look like an
idiot.”
After downplaying the personal importance of Saturday’s game,
Browning finally admitted that there was some extra motivation going
against his former team. He used it as fuel while leading a big
comeback, finishing 29 of 42 passing for 324 yards and a pair of
touchdowns.
“I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not a good feeling,” Browning said. “It’s much better than losing.”
In
that moment, Browning recalled how he felt on Aug. 31, 2021 when the
Vikings decided to roll with rookie quarterback Kellen Mond as the
backup to franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins. The front office delivered
the news to Browning and informed him there might be a spot open on the
practice squad. They told him to go back to the team hotel and wait by
his phone.
“I sat there for a couple of hours not knowing if I had
a job or not, then basically got a call from my agent,” Browning said.
“They didn’t even tell me. I’ve been cut my fair share of times and that
was probably the (expletive). There was a little bit more this week.”
If
the Vikings never cut Browning back then, he might currently be under
center with Cousins on the shelf. In that alternate universe he would
have had a couple of seasons to learn exactly what head coach Kevin
O’Connell is looking for in a backup.
Instead, the Bengals signed
Browning to their practice squad shortly after the Vikings cut him. He
spent a couple of seasons developing behind star quarterback Joe Burrow.
Now after taking over due to Burrows’ injury, Browning has a chance to
lead a playoff push.
No doubt the win over his former team helped
his cause. Asked how he was feeling in the immediate aftermath, Browning
smiled, then replied, “I feel like I need a beer.”
This was definitely on Cousins who put up a big fight to keep Manion over Browning.
Browning’s not wrong. Clearly.
I'm not sure the Bengals Org is filled with Schadenfreude over Browning...I'm sure the Vikings would have liked to stash him on to the practice squad since they just invested a draft pick in Mond.
This was under the Zimmer ( I love QB's) regime...fyi
Cutting him may have been the wrong decision, considering who we kept instead (Mond).
But three pretty good games doesn't mean he has a future. Will he even be on a roster two years from now? Or will Bengal fans say "hey, remember that stretch of games back in '23 when Browning looked like he could be a starting QB"? What happened to THAT guy?"
Because the window of opportunity closes pretty damn fast when youre mediocre
Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
At the very least, he is going to be around awhile as a top backup.
@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
@"StickyBun" said:@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
Addison did the same for Mullens, twice.
I lost count of how many wide open WRs he missed that could have been easy TDs, if he had decent accuracy they would have beaten us easily. That has been about the last 5 games where neither team had a legit starting QB, in fact we have only had a handful games all year against a legit starter.
@"HappyViking" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
Addison did the same for Mullens, twice.
Yes, he did. Neither QB played that well. In fact, I remember thinking in the 1st half we may never again see an NFL game with that many elite-level receivers on the field. It's a shame the QBs struggle so much to get them the ball.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"HappyViking" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
Addison did the same for Mullens, twice.
Yes, he did. Neither QB played that well. In fact, I remember thinking in the 1st half we may never again see an NFL game with that many elite-level receivers on the field. It's a shame the QBs struggle so much to get them the ball.
Good point about the WR's...Last nights Eagles/Seachx game had a bunch of high caliber WR's running around the field.
Really like that Smith-Njigba.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"HappyViking" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
Addison did the same for Mullens, twice.
Yes, he did. Neither QB played that well. In fact, I remember thinking in the 1st half we may never again see an NFL game with that many elite-level receivers on the field. It's a shame the QBs struggle so much to get them the ball.
Good point about the WR's...Last nights Eagles/Seachx game had a bunch of high caliber WR's running around the field.
Really like that Smith-Njigba.
This year's 1st round draft class was unusually good at WR with Addison, Flowers and JSN all looking like future superstars.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"HappyViking" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"FLVike" said: Just another QB in the string of QBs against us that closed his eyes and threw up a prayer and his receiver made a great play to win the game.
Nobody is talking about this. He threw up a few shitty hero balls and Higgins pulled his ass out of the fire.
Addison did the same for Mullens, twice.
Yes, he did. Neither QB played that well. In fact, I remember thinking in the 1st half we may never again see an NFL game with that many elite-level receivers on the field. It's a shame the QBs struggle so much to get them the ball.
Good point about the WR's...Last nights Eagles/Seachx game had a bunch of high caliber WR's running around the field.
Really like that Smith-Njigba.
This year's 1st round draft class was unusually good at WR with Addison, Flowers and JSN all looking like future superstars.Remember that pre-draft, the pundits said that this WR class was weaker than the 2022 class which was true. In this draft class the first WR didn't come off the board until pick #20 when JSN was selected by Seattle. The biggest knock on these first round WRs as a whole is that they're all on the smaller side.
The Hero Ball King....was just a matter of time.
This aged well....
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