On August 1, 2021, Jake Browning was the only quarterback available for the Minnesota Vikings’ yearly night practice. Because of COVID issues, Kirk Cousins, Kellen Mond and Nate Stanley were all forced to stay home while the former Washington Husky took the ball under the lights.
Browning put together an excellent practice, pushing the ball downfield to his receivers for a few plays that got the crowd excited and allowing the offense — first, second and third team — to have a quality night of work. When it was all over, the crowd cheered Browning and his teammates celebrated around him.
The next day the Vikings undrafted free agent quarterback talked about how he was developing and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said that he appreciated the way Browning sought out coaching and was trying endlessly to improve.
A few days later, the shine wore off the night practice when Browning struggled in a preseason matchup against the Denver Broncos and he was ultimately cut in favor of Mond and Sean Mannion, who was brought back to Minnesota after getting let go by Seattle.
Never would anyone have thought that Browning would someday throw for 354 yards on 32-of-37 passing in a 34-31 victory on Monday Night Football but that’s exactly what happened against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Oh, the Vikings play Browning in two weeks. There is a revenge game narrative that nobody saw coming.
Browning’s magical ride comes just a few weeks after Josh Dobbs became America’s Favorite Backup when he arrived in Minnesota mid-week and came off the bench to beat the Falcons.
Browning and Dobbs are hardly the only stories of quarterbacks coming out of the woodwork to win crazy games. Gardner Minshew has the Colts in the thick of the playoff race. Raise your hand if you ever heard of Tommy DeVito. Well, he’s won his last two games. The Vikings’ next opponent, fourth-round rookie, Aidan O’Connell has two wins, one of them being a 30-point explosion a few weeks ago against the Giants.
Of course, it’s not going swimmingly for all backups. Bailey Zappe failed to produce a point on Sunday and Tim Boyle was so bad the Jets benched him after already benching Zach Wilson. Not to mention Dobbs’ performance against the Bears had Josh Freeman vibes.
In a world where it is already near impossible to figure out what twists and turns are on the way, this year has felt even more bizarre and improbable than ever because of the sheer volume of quarterback injuries. We can’t even put a finger on which games we should expect to be winnable for the Vikings because we have no idea which version of their quarterback (whoever it may be) is going to show up and whether the opposing quarterback can be considered dangerous or not.
Before Monday we would have looked at the Raiders and Bengals as very beatable opponents because they are without Jimmy Garoppolo and Joe Burrow. That ground feels less stable right now. Of course, would anyone be surprised if Browning throws four INTs his next time out?
We also live in a world where Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, has become a legit MVP candidate. The other MVP quarterback candidate is fourth-rounder Dak Prescott. Remember when Jalen Hurts was coming out of college how the NFL thought he couldn’t throw? Jordan Love was bad five weeks ago and now the NBC broadcast is showing graphics with him being compared to Aaron Rodgers.
What are we supposed to make of it all? That the world is spinning off its axis and we should all find something sturdy to hold onto?
As the Vikings prepare to make a decision at quarterback for the rest of the season, the best they can do is push a button, close their eyes and hold onto their butts. Is Dobbs clearly the best choice over Nick Mullens or Jaren Hall? Who knows. Once upon a time Mullens pulled a Browning with 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-3 win over the Raiders in his first career start. He lost the next three games after that.
It seems like a very reasonable argument that Dobbs gives them the highest ceiling and lowest floor because of his athleticism but Browning had half the NFL Combine showing as Dobbs and just played like Ken Anderson in his prime.
It’s hard to say for sure how much some of the good performances from backups is sheer randomness and how much is coaching. Zac Taylor may have dialed up some strange trick plays that went sideways (have we seen that before?) but his gameplan for Browning included a lot of play-action rollouts and quick throws to Ja’Marr Chase. Don’t tell Packers fans but it looked similar to the way Matt LaFleur schemed for Love against the Chiefs.
Coming out of the Chicago game, in which it appeared that Kevin O’Connell put too much on the plate of a career backup who just got here a month ago, it will be a test case to see how well he adapts more to Dobbs’ skills. Things like pre-snap motion for Justin Jefferson, throws to the flat, underneath stuff to TJ Hockenson and rollouts to throw downfield may help the veteran QB. Giving him a chance to use his legs a little more by design rather than having him try to go full NASA Vick mode makes sense too.
It’s not easy to have grand takeaways from any coach who is dealing with backup QBs though. If it works out, the coach looks like a wizard. Who wasn’t ready to crown O’Connell after the New Orleans game? Is Robert Salah a fool because he got stuck with Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle? Pretty safe to say he would have looked smarter if Aaron Rodgers’ tendons made it through the season.
So it will be hard to judge what we see next. The Vikings might have the perfect gameplans and fall short because Dobbs/Mullens/Hall turn the ball over or Aidan O’Connell and Browning might collapse and the Vikings could be 8-6 headed into a three-game stretch that will determine their playoff fate.
The fact that there is simply no telling what in Roger Goodell’s name is going to happen in the coming weeks makes it feel like the future is even more uncertain than we already thought. Will the Vikings let this five game stretch dictate their future decision at quarterback? Could Dobbs play so well that they bring him back? Could Dobbs play so badly that they call Cousins and tell him to name his price? Could the wacky nature of trying to figure out who the heck is even good at playing quarterback lead the Vikings to roll the dice this offseason. Hey, it can’t be a coincidence that Browning has an unbelievable receiver from LSU at his disposal, right?
So the feeling coming out of the Bears game might be one of dread and misery from Vikings fans who have seen their team stumble down the stretch and either miss the playoffs or get eliminated in the first round far too many times but this year has a much more mysterious feel to it than in past seasons. It’s hard to have expectations but reasonable to be disappointed if this quality Vikings team with an offensive-minded coach and great weapons misses the postseason because of Cousins’ injury. It’s also hard not to think about the positive draft implications of missing the playoffs.
Who knows which way it will go. Everything and anything is on the table in the year of the backup quarterback.
