The Cincinnati Bengals have a problem.
Joe Burrow remains injured and is still likely out for a couple months, and Jake Browning hasn't been good enough.
For Cincy to take advantage of the floundering Baltimore Ravens and the possibly underwhelming Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals need competent quarterback play.
For Browning, that would mean a lessening of the times when he throws the football to the other team.
And the Bengals have options, sort of.
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Bengals QB depth chart
This is how the Bengals' QB depth chart looks without Burrow:
- Jake Browning
- Brett Rypien
- Mike White
- Sean Clifford
As it stands currently, White and Clifford are on the practice squad.
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Could the Bengals bench Jake Browning?
The Bengals haven't given an indication of this, but something's gotta give.
Rypien knows the system best, having spent the whole summer with Cincinnati, and could be the next man up.
White seems the most intriguing. He's got the strongest arm of the bunch and has NFL starts in his past with the New York Jets.
Clifford was a star at Penn State and spent the summer with the Green Bay Packers, but his arm talent isn't on the same level as White.
The Bengals liked Browning from his past stint starting for Burrow in 2023, when he went 4-3. But this hasn't felt like that, and Cincinnati surely has to at least consider change.
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