When he hears about Jake Browning’s next start, it all sounds a little familiar for Jeff Blake, the greatest backup quarterback in Bengals history.
(With apologies to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who won more games, but didn’t throw as many touchdowns and didn’t go to the Pro Bowl the next year as the Bengals starting quarterback.)
Like Browning in last week’s 16-10 verdict to the Steelers, Blake lost a close first NFL start at home in a game the Bengals led much of the way. Then they went on the road the next week to Seattle and won in overtime when Blake, the waiver-wire pickup, beat Rick Mirer, the second pick in the draft from the previous year.
Those AFC West Seahawks were far from Monday night’s (8:15 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 9, ESPN) AFC South-leading Jaguars quarterbacked by 2021 No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence. But there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
“He’s a veteran guy. Everything I’m saying, he knows already,” says Blake from Florida Thursday night. “Give him another game or two to see what happens, to see how he does. It’s a game or two before you can actually click in and actually get settled and your nerves and your confidence start to calm down. He’s probably going to go out and play very well this weekend. He’ll play smart and won’t make the same mistake twice. He can’t worry about Trevor or the Jacksonville Jaguars. Just worry about himself.”
Blake turns 53 on game day as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for IMG Academy and he has to admit, it didn’t take him time to get settled. Not with two touchdown bombs of 67 and 55 yards to wide receiver Darnay Scott as the winless Bengals stunned the Super Bowl-champion Cowboys 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
“I came out firing, you remember that,” says Blake as he recalls offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet guiding him through the day. “Bruce knew if I took those shots early and hit those early, that would settle me down.”
Browning didn’t have the luxury of getting settled early. He took a couple of sacks in the first half. A penalty didn’t help. A deflected pass for 31 yards did. Just like Blake said a vet would do, Browning emerged after Thursday’s practice quite clear in what he has to correct.
“I came out firing, you remember that,” says Blake as he recalls offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet guiding him through the day. “Bruce knew if I took those shots early and hit those early, that would settle me down.”
Browning didn’t have the luxury of getting settled early. He took a couple of sacks in the first half. A penalty didn’t help. A deflected pass for 31 yards did. Just like Blake said a vet would do, Browning emerged after Thursday’s practice quite clear in what he has to correct.
“And then when the play is dead, like I think there were some I’m holding on to too long trying to convert the third-and-9, convert the third-and-8 instead of just throwing it underneath to (tight end) Irv (Smith Jr.) or somebody and maybe the odds of them getting it from that position are not high, but the odds of me running around and doing a bunch of different stuff, those are pretty low too. So just get the ball out quickly, give them a chance to maybe go get it instead of holding on and try and think I’m going to throw this one or I’m going to make something happen and get the first. I think that’s an area I can improve on.”
If it’s one thing the Bengals are banking on from Browning, it’s a smart game. But Blake agrees it’s going to help to have back wide receiver Tee Higgins, a guy Browning hasn’t had at his disposal in his six quarters and 2:20 at the helm.
“He’s watched the film. He knows where his outlets are. He knows his playmakers,” Blake says. “I trusted my playmakers outside. I trusted Pick (Carl Pickens) and trusted Darnay and put them in the roles they were good at. I knew Darnay was my deep guy and Carl was my medium guy and possession guy.”
Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase can do it all and so could Pickens, the club’s third all-time receiver, and Scott, the yards-per-catch maven. Browning says he walked off the field Sunday believing he had played terribly, but when he watched the film he says there’s plenty to build on.
“I thought when I did pull the trigger on throws, I played accurate. I thought the operation in and out of the huddle was good,” Browning said. “Obviously, there are a couple of throws I want to have back. Couple of scrambles I think it could have just thrown the ball away on third downs. You’re going to punt either way, but just not taking sacks in those situations, I think is good just for the morale on the sideline, not letting them just tee off.”
Of course, Blake, who went on to start 100 games in the next 12 seasons, never had trouble pulling the trigger.
“I was reckless, man. I let it rip. I had nothing to lose, ” Blake says. “I let my football instincts take over. I’d been playing football my whole life. I wasn’t worried about messing up. I let the chips fall where they may.”
Two different quarterbacks. Two different guys. Two different careers. But just a word from someone who has been there.
“I bet he’ll go out there and play well,” Blake says. “There’s a reason he’s been in the league five years. He’s good enough to be there.”
