The Cincinnati Bengals will start quarterback Joe Flacco over Jake Browning moving forward after a surprising trade sent the former Cleveland Browns quarterback to their divisional rival.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed that Flacco will start moving forward on Wednesday, saying that ‘his style fits’ the Bengals’ style of offense, especially after Browning has struggled mightily.
For the Browns, they benched Flacco for rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who will get his first true road game start against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Right after that, the Steelers head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals, and that could open the door for Flacco.
The 2024 Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year, Gabriel missed some time in the preseason with a hamstring issue before decisively winning the backup quarterback job with his play over the rest of the preseason.
Gabriel helped lead Oregon to the College Football Playoff in 2024 before bowing out to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now, the Browns’ third-round pick gets a chance to showcase what he can do to Browns leadership and ultimately prove that he can be the guy for them the rest of this season if things go well.
Flacco, meanwhile, gets a second chance at starting this season with the Bengals, who have a talented group of weapons, but have been unable to do much offensively with Joe Burrow out for a significant amount of time due to a severe turf toe injury.
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