Jake Browning

Jacob Christopher Browning (born April 11, 1996) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Washington Huskies and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Early life Browning attended Folsom High School in Folsom, California. At Folsom, he had a 4.0 grade point average and set national and state high school records. In 46 games, Browning completed 1,191 of 1,708 attempts for 16,775 yards and 229 touchdowns, all California records. The 229 touchdowns also broke the national record held by Maty Mauk. As a senior, Browning threw for a national-record 91 touchdown passes. He also passed for a California record of 5,790 yards, which broke his record from his junior year. Browning was the Gatorade Football Player of the Year during his junior and senior years.

Browning was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and was ranked as the third-best pro-style recruit in his class. He committed to the University of Washington to play college football. Browning studied at the university's Foster School of Business, as a direct admit into their Business Administration program his freshman year.

College career Freshman In his first year at Washington, Browning became the second ever (in any game) true freshman to start at the quarterback position at UW (the other was Marques Tuiasosopo against Oregon in 1997) and the first true freshman to start a season opener for the Huskies. In his first career start, Browning completed 20-of-34 passes for 150 yards and an interception.

Sophomore As a sophomore, Browning performed on a much higher level, guiding UW to a 12–2 record, and the Huskies' first conference championship since 2000. He set a new record for touchdowns per attempt at 12.2%. On November 29, Browning was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-Pac-12. He came in sixth in the 2016 Heisman Trophy voting, narrowly missing an invitation to attend the award ceremony in New York City. Browning's sixth-place finish is the third-best Heisman voting finish in school history, behind Michael Penix Jr. who finished second and Steve Emtman who finished fourth.

Browning underwent shoulder surgery on his throwing arm two weeks after facing Alabama in the College Football Playoff. His injury was kept secret for nearly two months, and some commentators have speculated as to a connection between the injury and Browning's reduced performance in the later portion of the season.

Junior Browning started all 13 games of the 2017 season at quarterback, was named to the Academic All-Pac-12 second-team, was an honorable mention All-Pac-12, and broke the UW career touchdown passes record this year. Browning completed 230 of his attempted 336 throws, which was his highest throwing percentage. He threw for 2,719 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

Senior On September 29, 2018, Browning became the school's all-time passing leader, against BYU. With the Pac-12 North Division title on the line, he led Washington against in-state rival and seventh-ranked Washington State on the road in the 111th Apple Cup. The Huskies won their second Pac-12 title in three years by defeating Utah in the 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. The team was invited to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by Ohio State to end the year at 10–4, 7–2 in conference play. Browning finished the season with 3,192 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

2019 On April 29, 2019, Browning signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. He was waived on August 31, but was signed to the practice squad the next day. After the Vikings lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, Browning signed a reserve/future contract with the Vikings on January 12, 2020.

2020 Browning was waived by the Vikings during final roster cuts on September 5, 2020, but was re-signed to the Vikings practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Vikings on January 4, 2021.

2021 On August 31, 2021, Browning was waived by the Vikings during final roster cuts.

Cincinnati Bengals

2021 On September 7, 2021, Browning was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. After the team lost Super Bowl LVI to the Los Angeles Rams, he signed a reserve/future contract on February 15, 2022.

2022 Browning competed for the backup quarterback job during the preseason, but was beat out by Brandon Allen. Browning was waived on August 30, 2022, but was signed to the practice squad the next day. After the Bengals lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, Browning signed a reserve/future contract on January 31, 2023.

2023 Browning competed with Trevor Siemian to be the Bengals' backup quarterback throughout training camp and eventually won the job after the third preseason game.

During the season-opening 24–3 road loss to the Cleveland Browns, Browning had his first regular-season snap in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, throwing an incomplete pass. During Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football, Browning came in to relieve an injured Joe Burrow, throwing for 68 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 40 yards in the 34–20 road loss. The next day, it was revealed that Burrow suffered a season-ending injury to his throwing wrist, elevating Browning to the starting role.

During Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Browning made his first career start and finished the 16–10 loss completing 19-of-26 passes for 227 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. In the next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football, Browning completed 32-of-37 passes for 354 yards and a touchdown while also rushing twice for 22 yards and a touchdown during the 34–31 overtime road victory. His 86.5 percent completion rate is the highest all-time in a quarterback's first or second career start. Browning was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. The following week against the Indianapolis Colts, Browning had 275 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception to go along with seven rushing yards and a touchdown during the 34–14 victory.

During Week 15 against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, Browning led a 14-point comeback that included two fourth quarter touchdown passes to Tee Higgins. Browning finished the 27–24 overtime victory throwing for 324 yards, the two aforementioned touchdowns, and an interception. With this win, Browning became the first Bengals quarterback since Boomer Esiason to win three of his first four starts. In the next game against the Steelers, Browning struggled as he threw for 335 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions during the 34–11 road loss. The following week against the Chiefs, Browning had 197 passing yards and a touchdown to go along with 32 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 25–17 road loss. During the regular-season finale against the Browns, he completed 18-of-24 passes for 156 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in the 31–14 victory.

Browning finished the 2023 season with 1,936 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions to go along with 27 carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns in nine games and seven starts.

2024 Browning re-signed with the Bengals on a two-year contract on April 23, 2024. He was once again named the backup quarterback to start the season.

2025 During a Week 2 31–27 comeback victory over the Jaguars, starting quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a turf toe injury in the second quarter. Browning played the rest of the game and completed 21-of-32 passes for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions while also rushing for the game-winning touchdown. Following the victory, Browning was announced as the Bengals' starting quarterback in Burrow's absence, and head coach Zac Taylor said that the team had full confidence in him.

Browning made his first start of the season in Week 3 against his former team, the Vikings, and finished the 48–10 road loss with 140 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

After back-to-back blowout losses to the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions where Browning threw for four touchdowns and eight interceptions, the Bengals traded a 2026 fifth round pick to the division rival Cleveland Browns for Joe Flacco and a 2026 sixth round pick on October 7. Flacco was announced as the new starting quarterback for the Bengals the next day, and Browning returned to the bench.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers On March 13, 2026, Browning signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was released on August 30.

Career statistics

NFL Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks Fumbles 2019 MIN 0 0 — 2020 MIN 0 0 — 2021 CIN 0 0 — 2022 CIN 0 0 — 2023 CIN 9 7 4−3 171 243 70.4 1,936 8.0 80 12 7 98.4 27 127 4.7 21 3 24 169 3 0 2024 CIN 3 0 — 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 2 -2 -1.0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 2025 CIN 5 3 0−3 81 125 68.5 771 6.2 64 6 8 70.5 9 39 4.3 13 1 9 60 1 0 Career 17 10 4−6 252 368 68.5 2,707 7.4 80 18 15 89.1 38 164 4.3 21 4 33 229 4 0

College Season Team Games Passing Rushing GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD 2015 Washington 12 12 7–5 233 369 63.1 2,955 8.0 16 10 139.7 65 35 0.5 1 2016 Washington 14 14 12–2 243 391 62.1 3,430 8.8 43 9 167.5 65 45 0.7 4 2017 Washington 13 13 10–3 230 336 68.5 2,719 8.1 19 5 152.1 56 25 0.4 7 2018 Washington 14 14 10–4 252 388 64.9 3,192 8.2 16 10 142.5 85 139 1.6 4 Career 53 53 39–14 958 1,484 64.6 12,296 8.3 94 34 150.5 271 244 0.9 16