Bengals QB Jake Browning takes a dig at the Vikings after beating his former team in overtime as he screams into a camera: ‘You never should’ve cut me!’

Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning has taken a dig at the Minnesota Vikings after defeating his former team, 27-24, in overtime.

The 27-year-old signal-caller signed with Minnesota after going undrafted in 2019. He never played in an NFL game for the franchise, despite having been a practice squad member for the Vikings from 2019-2021.

A week after being cut, Browning joined the Bengals in September 2021, but was just a practice squad member in Cincinnati, too, before competing with Trevor Siemian for the team’s backup quarterback role throughout training camp this year.

He eventually won the job after the third preseason game, and has been called onto fill in for Joe Burrow for the remainder of the season, after Burrow suffered a season-ending injury to his throwing wrist in a 34–20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11.

Browning started for the fourth time of his career against Minnesota on Saturday. He completed 29-of-42 (69.1 percent) passing attempts for 324 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, to improve his record to 3-1 as a starter. He found receiver Tyler Boyd for a 44-yard completion that got Cincinnati (8-6) into Vikings territory and set up Evan McPherson’s game-ending 29-yard field goal with 3:11 left in overtime.

‘I think after we made the field goal to win the game, I screamed at a camera,’ said Browning postgame in a video shared by the Bengals’ official X account.

‘I said they never should have cut me.’

Indeed, sideline footage from Cincinnati’s dramatic home backs up Browning’s claim as it shows him yanking off his helmet after the end of overtime, and yelling into the camera: ‘Shoulda never f***ing cut me.’

‘Yeah, I mean you can’t say that the whole week and then go lose… You kinda just, you just wait until you win and then don’t look like an idiot. I feel like I need a beer,’ he added after Saturday’s victory.

Trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter behind an offense that had struggled to move the ball, Browning threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the last 15 minutes alone, and in overtime.

He became the fourth quarterback to throw for at least that many yards and two or more scores after three quarters. He revealed he was called in for a drug test after his remarkable performance.

‘Jake’s just so steady, you know?’ Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. ‘He really is. He doesn’t get rattled by a negative play. He doesn’t overreact to it.’

The Bengals are now 8-6 and lie third in the AFC North, behind the Ravens (10-3) and Browns (9-5).

They next face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, December 23.