Bengals coach Zac Taylor has trust in backup QB Jake Browning as team begins tough stretch

CINCINNATI (AP) — Zac Taylor will have to get through an extended period without franchise quarterback Joe Burrow for the third time in his tenure as the Cincinnati Bengals' coach.

At least Taylor knows what Jake Browning can do.

Browning has been with the Bengals since 2021. He was on the practice squad for two seasons before becoming Burrow's backup in 2023. He went 4-3 as a starter in the final seven games that season after Burrow was sidelined with a right wrist injury.

With Burrow expected to miss at least three months with an injured left big toe that needs surgery, Taylor said he doesn't imagine a dramatic departure from the Bengals' usual game plans with Browning taking over.

“He knows the playbook inside and out. He’s going to be making protection adjustments. He is going to be able to make the right adjustments. He’s fully capable to go out there and lead it,” said Taylor, who is 2-0 for the first time.

Including Sunday's 31-27 win over Jacksonville, Browning has played in 13 games.

Browning — who went 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards — threw three interceptions, but also accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Cincinnati scored on four of the eight drives he led, including the game-sealing final possession on which the Bengals went 92 yards in 15 plays, capped by Browning's 1-yard sneak for a TD. He completed 9 of 12 passes for 65 yards on that series.

Browning had a run of four straight games with at least 275 passing yards in 2023. One of them was against the Minnesota Vikings, who the Bengals will face on Sunday. Browning completed 29 of 42 passes for 324 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in Cincinnati's 27-24 victory.

Taylor said during Sunday's win over the Jaguars, “we stared adversity right in the eye and didn’t flinch."

Considering the Bengals' upcoming schedule, Taylor is going to need more of the same.

This week's matchup at Minnesota begins a five-game stretch against teams that made the playoffs last season. It also could be a battle of backups because Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has a sprained right ankle.

Following the Vikings, Cincinnati is at Denver for a Monday night game on Sept. 29, hosts Detroit on Oct. 5, visits Green Bay on Oct. 12 and then hosts Pittsburgh on Thursday, Oct. 16.

If the Bengals can stay afloat with Browning through that stretch, they have what could be easier home games against the New York Jets and Chicago before their bye week.

“That’s one of the nice things about always being prepared, is that it doesn’t change much,” Browning said about becoming the starter. “If anything, it’s easier. I’ll get the walkthrough reps and the practice reps. It’s significantly harder as a backup to just go through all the reads in your head when you haven’t done it.”

The secondary. The Bengals had two interceptions against the Jaguars and have picked off at least four passes in the first two games for the first time since 2014 and eighth time in franchise history. Jordan Battle is the first Bengal with an interception in each of the first two games since Ashley Ambrose in 1996.

The run game. The Bengals are averaging only 2.4 yards per rush, second-worst in the league going into the Monday night games. Their longest run of the year is 11 yards.

WR Mitchell Tinsley. The rookie made the roster with two fantastic catches in a preseason game against Washington. He showed a flair for the dramatic against the Jaguars with his first career reception, a one-handed grab in the left corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown.

OG Dalton Risner allowed a sack and three pressures. He was beaten by Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead on the play where Burrow was injured.

Rookie DE Shemar Stewart is doubtful after suffering a right ankle injury during the fourth quarter.

6 — Games by Ja'Marr Chase with at least 10 receptions, 150 receiving yards and a touchdown catch, surpassing Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce (five games) for the most such games by an NFL player under age 26.

The Bengals look to go 3-0 for the first time since 2015 when they visit the Minnesota Vikings (1-1). Cincinnati has won the past two and three of four meetings.

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, center, is exits the medical tent for the locker room after suffering an injury during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning, right, is hugged by tight end Noah Fant after Browning's rushing touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning answers questions after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor answers questions after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party. Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.

“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”

Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.

In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.

Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.

“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”

The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right.

Reform, which only has a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons, is tipped to make a major breakthrough in an array of elections this May, including those to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.

Jenrick, who continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform to unite the right in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.

Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose favorability ratings have fallen sharply since the general election following a series of missteps, questioned why it took Badenoch “so long” to sack Jenrick given all the speculation that he was looking to either challenge her or to defect to Reform.

Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.

Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.

However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks, particularly during her weekly questioning of Starmer, in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.

The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the modern party was created nearly 200 years ago.

Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)