Jake Browning on Bengals' Win Over Browns
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00:00 I mean, it's better than ending with a loss, but I don't know.
00:03 I think the second the game was over,
00:05 it's just you're glad you won and didn't play bad,
00:08 but there's like, man, we were so close to the playoffs.
00:11 And, yeah, I mean, it's just so --
00:15 it's like a weird, bittersweet feeling where you won,
00:20 and it was, you know, good to go out strong with a --
00:23 you know, every team's going to be different every year,
00:24 and that's just part of the business side of it.
00:26 But, man, we were so close to the playoffs,
00:29 and it just sucks that we are going home.
00:32 So it's kind of a mixed feelings.
00:36 What was the prep like as y'all got ready for this week,
00:38 and why did y'all want to come out and make sure
00:39 you got finished on a good note?
00:42 Yeah, I mean, I think for me and in my situation,
00:45 you know, starts don't grow on trees,
00:47 so every single one is important.
00:50 And I think our locker room, you know,
00:54 it starts with the type of guys you bring into the locker room
00:56 and then, you know, the culture that Zach has established.
01:00 You know, I don't even think there was really a thought
01:02 that we were going to come out and not play hard
01:06 for a couple reasons.
01:07 I think, one, football is pretty physical,
01:09 and the second you come out not prepared,
01:10 that's where injuries happen.
01:12 And I think, two, at least for me personally,
01:15 it wasn't made -- we didn't really say anything about it,
01:18 but I think one of the cooler stats in --
01:21 you know, there's all these stats that pop up on TV,
01:24 and one of the cooler ones that I always saw --
01:27 I mean, I hate the Steelers just as much as everybody else,
01:29 but the fact that Mike Tomlin has had
01:31 that many winning seasons, you know,
01:33 hopefully however many years from now, you know,
01:37 Zach has that same thing,
01:39 and there'll be a little bit of that, like, all right,
01:40 and I guess it's 2024 now.
01:43 You know, good thing we got that win.
01:44 And so the streak's at three.
01:47 It's not even close to Mike Tomlin, but it's still alive,
01:50 and I think that's a pretty cool stat for a coach
01:54 to have, and, you know, Zach gave me my opportunity
01:58 and has treated me really, really well
02:02 and is the reason I'm still allowed
02:04 to put on pads on a Sunday.
02:07 And so I kind of wanted that for him.
02:09 I think it's a cool stat to have as a coach.
02:11 Is there any conversation amongst the players
02:13 about that stat, I think, or just something you thought about?
02:14 No. Just something I thought about.
02:18 I mean, there's a lot of reasons to go play hard.
02:20 You're in the NFL, and just because you're not
02:21 in the playoffs, you know, I think you always
02:24 kind of remember it on how'd you play, prepare,
02:29 and what was your intensity like when you're backs --
02:33 I guess not backs against the wall,
02:34 but just in games that don't matter.
02:37 So I wanted to go out strong.
02:39 As you said, don't grow on trees.
02:41 How do you think you did over the second start of this play?
02:44 I mean, the goal was to make it into the playoffs,
02:46 so that part, not well.
02:51 I think as we get further away from the season,
02:54 I'll remember the good, hopefully,
02:56 but I think I'm kind of wired to remember some losses
03:00 that I could have played better.
03:04 But I think I've established that I'm capable
03:07 of being a starter in the NFL.
03:10 It's obviously a weird situation where I feel like,
03:14 hey, I'm one of the top 32 quarterbacks in the world,
03:16 and I just so happen to be on a roster with a guy
03:18 that's proven that he's the top five quarterback in the world.
03:21 And so, you know, what that looks like going forward,
03:25 I have no idea, nor do I have any control,
03:28 so I'm not going to think about it a ton.
03:31 But I think when I go watch all my film
03:37 to try and figure out what I'm going to work on this offseason,
03:39 I'll be proud of what I put on tape.
03:41 But the goal was to go to the playoffs, and we didn't,
03:44 so that's pretty motivating going into the offseason, too.
03:48 Besides the obvious of, like you said,
03:49 making the playoffs when you look back
03:51 at that first starting opportunity in the NFL,
03:53 is there anything over these last few weeks
03:55 you treated differently?
03:57 I mean, find a way to win one of the last two games.
04:00 I mean, all three of the losses,
04:01 just find a way to get one of those.
04:04 And I don't think there was really, like,
04:08 any overarching theme to them.
04:12 It's just, you know, you got to find a way
04:13 to go win at Arrowhead.
04:15 You got to go find a way to win at the Steelers
04:16 or at home against the Steelers.
04:19 So really just figure out how to play better
04:20 against the Steelers would be kind of the main takeaway.
04:22 But, yeah, I don't have any, like, overarching theme.
04:27 I think that -- I don't want to have opinions
04:29 until I watch all my film together,
04:31 and I think you start to get a feel for, like,
04:34 what the things you need to improve on are.
04:37 Jake, why was it important for you to reach out to Tyler Boyd
04:41 in the middle of this press gathering
04:43 to kind of show him some love?
04:45 Yeah, I think TB's --
04:47 I mean, he's been my locker mate throughout this whole year,
04:50 and I think Jamar and T get a lot of pub, and rightfully so.
04:55 I mean, they're unbelievable players.
04:57 But I think TB, at least in my experience
05:00 over the last couple of years here in watching this place --
05:03 you know, I wasn't here when it was bad,
05:04 but watching it kind of climb to the next level,
05:06 I think TB is an unsung hero,
05:10 or, like, a guy that pulls a lot of weight in the locker room
05:14 because, you know, those two guys came here,
05:17 and he was kind of the guy, and those two guys came,
05:19 and, you know, it's a zero-sum game.
05:21 You can't throw the ball to three people every play.
05:23 And so, you know, there's a lot of touches
05:25 that went other people's ways.
05:27 But he kind of set the tone, like,
05:29 this is not going to be a prima donna room,
05:31 and that it's just really about winning
05:33 and going as hard as you can.
05:35 And, you know, I'll always have a lot of respect for TB
05:42 and just how he carried himself.
05:44 I think he's -- you know, I throw three picks
05:48 against Pittsburgh, his hometown,
05:51 and in front of his whole family, basically.
05:54 Coming into the locker room, he's like,
05:56 "Hey, man, shake that off.
05:58 Everybody has one of those games."
05:59 And so, you know, I'll always remember that.
06:01 It was kind of like I said earlier,
06:03 you remember what people were like
06:04 when something bad just happened.
06:06 And so I'll always think very highly of Tyler.
06:08 How much are those kind of people important
06:10 to creating winning cultures
06:11 and just winning locker rooms in general?
06:14 I mean, I think -- I can only speak to my experience.
06:16 But, I mean, our starting --
06:19 our franchise quarterback goes down.
06:20 He breaks his, I guess, wrist.
06:23 I don't remember exactly what it is.
06:24 But he gets hurt.
06:27 First play I come out, and we call it naked.
06:29 It's not like we were, "Hey, let's roll out to your left
06:33 and be aggressive."
06:35 And so that kind of set the tone.
06:37 Then you fast-forward a couple days, and Joe's out.
06:40 He sits up here, and has to tell everybody, like,
06:42 "Hey, I'm out."
06:43 He's obviously -- there's a lot of emotions involved with that.
06:45 But he immediately said, "Hey, Jake's going to play great."
06:48 And I got a lot of confidence in him.
06:51 And that was just echoed by him, Zach, teammates.
06:56 And so it's an objectively difficult position
07:01 to step into, but it becomes much easier
07:04 when you've got the franchise guy saying,
07:06 "I think you're going to tear it up and do a great job,"
07:09 and sending me texts after games and being very supportive.
07:12 And I was feeling like there was a lot of confidence in me,
07:17 whether people were faking that or not.
07:20 You know, it was appreciated and I think was a big reason
07:24 why we were able to string some wins together.
07:26 Obviously, it was not enough.
07:28 But I think it's been a special year for me,
07:32 and I'll always kind of remember just different interactions
07:36 this year, maybe more so than years going forward
07:39 or years in the past, just because it's kind of
07:41 my first time getting some action.
07:44 Did Joe say anything to you after today's game?
07:49 I'll keep those conversations private.
07:50 But, yeah, Joe's been great,
07:52 which is probably the least surprising thing
07:55 of this whole year.
07:56 There are teams, you know, are on the lead.
07:58 They're starting quarterbacks.
07:59 It's hurting the wheels all for their season.
08:01 Like, almost from a culture perspective here,
08:02 what led to, you know, some stability down the stretch,
08:07 even though you guys didn't come up short?
08:10 I mean, yeah, all the things I just said were big,
08:13 but I think, you know, a big part of that, too,
08:14 is I had been preparing for that for a long time.
08:18 And, you know, I had a lot of support after the Ravens game,
08:23 after the Steelers game.
08:25 I -- there were flashes there that earned that support, too.
08:29 And then we kind of got hot there for a while
08:32 for three games.
08:33 And, you know, there's a lot that goes into it,
08:36 and I'll give credit to, you know,
08:38 the culture and stuff like that,
08:39 but there's a big part of it, too.
08:40 Like, I was prepared, and I was playing well.
08:42 And so, you know, you kind of --
08:45 maybe if there were some people I didn't think
08:46 it was going to go well, you know,
08:48 they didn't have a choice but to kind of believe after that.
08:51 David, you had a great opportunity to say
08:55 to people that are in your position,
08:57 whether it be them on practice squad
08:59 and wondering what their futures are going to be.
09:01 What advice would you give to those that were in a position
09:04 that you were ahead of the season
09:05 and taking the opportunity like you did yesterday?
09:09 Yeah, I think for guys on practice squad,
09:11 I think there's three buckets you can fall into,
09:13 and you don't want to fall into any of them.
09:15 You don't want to be the guy that gets cut a few times
09:18 and loses your confidence.
09:20 I think the second you do that, you know, you're screwed.
09:25 But those guys work really hard
09:27 because they're trying to, you know, build themselves up.
09:30 I think the second one is the guys that, you know,
09:33 I think they're getting screwed, and, you know,
09:35 there probably is some --
09:36 it's usually a half-truth there,
09:39 but those guys never lose their confidence,
09:40 but they probably don't work as hard as they need to.
09:43 And then there's the guys that I'm just happy to be here.
09:45 And, you know, you want to have that in the right situations,
09:48 like on Sunday when you're in a hoodie
09:50 or Wednesday when, you know, Joe's going through whatever.
09:53 Like, you still got to remember you're in the NFL,
09:55 but you also don't want to be the guy that, you know,
09:58 isn't working hard enough to have your --
10:01 when your opportunity does come, if it comes.
10:02 I mean, there's plenty of people that it does not ever come.
10:07 You want to be prepared.
10:08 And so I think navigating those three buckets
10:10 you can kind of fall into, take the good with the bad
10:14 of each one of those buckets,
10:17 avoiding the bad and taking the good
10:19 is kind of the way to navigate it.