Browning vows to keep pushing
CINCINNATI — Jake Browning still doesn’t have a ton of NFL starting experience, but the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback said he doesn’t feel any more pressure facing high-stakes games over the last two weeks while trying to lead his team into the playoffs.
The Bengals game at Kansas City on New Year’s Eve was expected to be a marquee matchup between two of the top teams in the AFC. Instead, both are fighting for playoff spots. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (9-6) still lead the AFC West but haven’t clinched after losing four of their last six games, and Cincinnati likely needs to win its last two to get into the postseason.
Browning said the game means the same to him as it would have if the Bengals had already clinched a spot in the playoffs.
“It’s a pretty high-intensity work environment regardless,” Browning said. “I’ve waited a long time to be able to start some games, so like I’ve said before, it’s not like this is my 200th start and it’s just another game. I don’t know what number start this is, but it’s not a lot, so I’m pretty focused on trying to make the most of this opportunity and play well against the Chiefs.
“The longer you’ve been in football, the more you realize it really is just next week, next week. OK, you have a bad game. How do you bounce back from that and adjust to the mistakes you made but not lose your stinger of being aggressive and being able to toe that line while also dealing with the highs and lows of winning and losing. The teams that are able to respond to that well are the teams that