Team news: Cincinnati Bengals | Page 3

The Cleveland Browns are benching veteran quarterback Joe Flacco and will turn to rookie Dillon Gabriel as their starter for Sunday's game in London against the Minnesota Vikings.

This likely points toward a reduction in the Browns' league-high pass rate, which would impact a receiving group that's already difficult to trust in fantasy. Gabriel is not a streaming candidate and should be very deep in QB2 consideration for SuperFlex leagues.

Bengals also are signing QB Mike White to their practice squad, per source.

So both White and Sean Clifford added to Cincinnati’s practice squad.

Related players: Jake Browning, Brett Rypien

After Joe Burrow injured his toe and will be out at least three months, the Bengals are stocking up on quarterbacks. Browning will take over the starting job and can be picked up in just about any format. Rypien will likely be the number-two with White and Clifford taking on the insurance roles.

ESPN sources: Bengals QB Joe Burrow will need toe surgery.

Related players: Jake Browning, Brett Rypien

As we reported yesterday, surgery could require Burrow to miss at least three months of the season, and Schefter is confirming that again this morning. It's obviously a huge blow for fantasy owners of Burrow. Burrow could be back around early-to-mid December based on this timeline. The good news is Browning has shown he can be a decent fantasy QB option, and he threw for 241 yards and two TDs coming in to replace Burrow in Week 2 - but he also threw three interceptions. So, owners of Chase Brown, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins hopefully will only see minimal drops in fantasy value going forward. Browning is worth a pickup off the wire in pretty much any league format, but will especially be a popular target in multi-QB or superflex leagues.

Updating an earlier item on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Ian Rapoport is reporting Burrow could miss at least three months with his turf toe and torn ligaments, if surgery is needed.

Missing three months would mean Burrow could potentially return in Week 16 against the Dolphins. That probably would also require the Bengals to still be in the playoff hunt by then. The Bengals are 2-0 and Jake Browning has kept the team afloat before. As far as fantasy goes, this is probably worst-case scenario without actually saying season-ending. He could return for the fantasy playoffs, but it’s hard to gauge what those chances actually are, depending on how the Bengals do up until then.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow is believed to have turf toe with torn ligaments, suffered during Sunday’s win over the Jaguars.

Burrow had his leg rolled up in the second quarter and was helped to the locker room. He was later ruled questionable and then out with a toe injury. According to Rauch, it could be a “tricky timeline” for Burrow but several weeks is possible. Certainly a costly victory for the Bengals, who are 2-0 for the first time under head coach Zac Taylor. Jake Browning helped lead the comeback win, including the game-winning one-yard score. The Bengals head to Minnesota next week.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was helped to the locker room after having his leg rolled up in the second quarter against the Jaguars.

The Bengals somehow don’t have a cart, so staff members had to help Burrow to the locker room. No word yet on his status, but at least, for the time being, Jake Browning is in at quarterback. Burrow had 76 yards and a touchdown on 7/13 passing.

Chase Brown took his development from last season and returned to WR coach Drew Lieberman this offseason with a renewed focus on route running, trying to elevate on-script to match his off-script magic.

The Bengals responded accordingly. OTAs and training camp were filled with splitting Brown outside and testing matchups against safeties and linebackers. This grew far beyond the typical choice routes coming out of the backfield. This was true receiver usage.

“Splitting out as a receiver and having a real understanding of what our receivers go through and what Joe is going to see — he’s become really valuable in that way,” HC Zac Taylor said.

The story mentioned Bengals LB Logan Wilson said Brown is trying to separate himself in the passing and he's done a lot of work to get better at route running. Wilson went on to call him a, "true receiving threat wherever he is at on the field at all times.” The story said Brown's improvement in the passing game allowed the Bengals to expand their playbook for this season. The story added that extrapolating his numbers from the second half of last season over a full year would put him well over 1,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving, and only two backs have accomplished both in a season since 2020: Jahmyr Gibbs and Christian McCaffrey. Brown looks to be a RB to target in the late second or early third round of fantasy drafts if he's there.

Browns Stefanski said Dillon Gabriel is the backup quarterback.

Related players: Shedeur Sanders, Joe Flacco

This shouldn't come as a shock based on the way the Browns treated their QB rotation. The team's QB saga is over for now with the trading of Kenny Pickett. Deshaun Watson should be out for a most of this season, but things will again get interesting once Watson is cleared to play.

Browns are sending QB Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders, per sources.

Related players: Geno Smith, Aidan O'Connell, Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel

As Schefter summarized, the Raiders needed another backup for Smith with O'Connell fracturing his wrist in the preseason finale and being expected to miss 6-8 weeks. As for the Browns, they had a logjam at the position so it makes sense Pickett would be the one moved. Now the Browns will need to settle their QB depth chart behind starter Flacco.

The Browns are naming QB Joe Flacco as their starter, the end of a training camp competition that never really was.

Flacco quickly emerged as QB1, while the others battled injuries. The player who led them to the playoffs in 2023 is back.

Related players: Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel

This isn't really shocking news. The thing to watch will now be how the rest of the QBs align behind Flacco as we get closer to the season. Both Sanders and Gabriel didn't look bad in their preseason games in Weeks 1 and 2, but both have dealt with injuries. The team has a lot of options, and this will need to sort itself out by the start of the season. The Browns Week 3 preseason game could go a long way to determine the rest of the order.