CINCINNATI — Bengals coach Zac Taylor sounded open to the possibility of a quarterback change after Jake Browning struggled again in a 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Taylor said he plans to evaluate why the offense struggled in a third straight defeat. Browning threw three interceptions before he led the Bengals to three touchdowns in the final quarter to trim the final margin.
“After a game like that, we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Taylor said when asked if he still believes in Browning moving forward. “I won’t shy away from that because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers that we had.”
Browning was 26-of-40 passing for 251 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. But all three TDs and 133 of those yards came in the fourth quarter, after Cincinnati was walloped early for a third consecutive week.
Browning, who replaced the injured Joe Burrow, was booed after several drives in the first half. At one point, he was booed as he led the offense on the field.
The veteran backup didn’t disagree with the fans’ reaction. After the loss, Browning said he let down the team and the fans and didn’t play well enough to put Cincinnati in a winning position.
Browning’s first interception, a deep ball intended for wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, came after the majority of his passes were short throws.
Browning has thrown eight interceptions in four games this season. When he started seven games in 2023, also in place of the injured Burrow, Browning threw seven interceptions in nine contests.
“I got to pick my spots better,” Browning said. “I threw three picks that were just bad. And there’s no hiding from that. It was bad football. From me.”
The Bengals have three other quarterbacks. Brett Rypien is on the 53-player roster, and Mike White and Sean Clifford are on the practice squad.
Entering Sunday, Taylor expressed “unwavering” confidence in Browning. And despite opening the door for a new starting option, Taylor still held on to some of that belief after the latest loss.
“I believe Jake can win games for us,” Taylor said. “I do. We’ll just continue to look at everything we can, personnel-wise.”
Taylor, the seventh-year coach and the team’s offensive playcaller, shouldered responsibility for the ineffective offense. Sunday marked the third straight game the Bengals scored just three points through the first three quarters. Cincinnati scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, after the Lions had opened up a 28-3 lead.
Chase finished the game with six catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Tee Higgins also had a late touchdown.
At his locker after the game, Chase was asked if getting the offense going earlier starts with targeting him and Higgins as much as possible.
“We’ve been doing that,” Chase said. “I just think it’s a tough task when everybody knows what we’re doing. Maybe we’ve got to work hard to get the ball to us, and we’ve got to work harder as a unit to make it look easier for Jake.”
As Chase and Higgins spoke with reporters, Browning sat at his locker, hunched over. His chair was the only one filled among the adjacent spots on his end of the room.
“I don’t care if every person on the team says they need to play better,” he said. “It starts with me playing better at the quarterback position.”
