Jake

Browning

Flacco had been listed as questionable to face the Bears after sustaining a shoulder injury last week against the Jets. He’ll play through the injury against a soft Chicago defense, but presents a very real in-game injury risk. The fantasy prospects of every Bengals player rely on Flacco being under center for the pass-heavy Cincinnati offense. Bengals declared CB Marco Wilson, LB Logan Wilson, OL Dalton Risner, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Cam Grandy, and DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) inactive against Chicago. With Hendrickson out, the Bengals defense presents an even better matchup for Caleb Williams and the Bears.

Flacco has talked a good game the last few days, leading us to believe the Bengals’ quarterback is on the optimistic side of questionable. But the Bengals also signed Sean Clifford to their active roster, leaving us to believe there’s still some question on if Flacco will indeed be ready to go. If Flacco is declared out, starting duties would likely fall to Jake Browning again.

Flacco didn’t say if he expected to play in Sunday’s game, but that was clearly the vibe the veteran signal-caller was giving off on Friday when speaking with the media. Flacco and the Bengals plan to test his shoulder before ultimately deciding on his availability, but it sounds like he should be good to go in a plus matchup against the Bears barring any setbacks.

Flacco is dealing with an AC joint sprain, per Rapoport. He sustained the injury late in the Bengals’ Week 8 loss against the Jets and could miss this week’s game against the Bears. That would force Jake Browning back under center for the Bengals, a huge hit to the fantasy prospects of every Cincy pass catcher, including Ja’Marr Chase. Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on Flacco’s Thursday and Friday practice status.

Browning was doomed to a QB2 role once the Bengals traded for Joe Flacco earlier this week. He had eight interceptions in less than four full games this year. The Bengals were 0-3 with Browning at the helm. They were out-scored 37-113 in his three starts. Flacco has also struggled to start the year, but he should at least give the Bengals a higher weekly floor.

It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see it it works. The Bengals on Tuesday acquired Flacco and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick from the Browns in exchange for a 2026 fifth round draft pick. The Bengals are apparently pulling the plug on Jake Browning after three of the worst quarterback performances in recent memory. They’re replacing Browning — whose chance of landing a starting job in the NFL surely vanished over the past month — with Flacco, the NFL’s worst starting QB this season. Flacco in four games with the Browns ranked dead last in adjusted yards per attempt (3.6), second to last in touchdown rate (1.2 percent), and second to last in completion rate (58 percent). Rapoport said the hope is Flacco can keep the Bengals afloat until Burrow is ready to return to the field. It’s a long shot, at best.

Flacco may help steady fantasy values for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but it’s not like the Bengals have a significantly better offensive line than the Browns. They may, in fact, have a worse running game. Flacco jumps in to the superflex QB2 consideration zone while Chase and Higgins don’t take an appreciable step forward, but perhaps grab a little extra floor. This is a patch job for the Bengals, who simply couldn’t keep giving snaps to Jake Browning after his disastrous showings and lack of confidence the last few weeks. Browning is a drop in all leagues.

Rypien is on the 53-man roster as Browning’s backup while Clifford and White are currently on the team’s practice squad. Dehner Jr. put it bluntly, “Any options left open to, theoretically, replace Browning in Green Bay would have to come from outside the building.” With no outside additions made yet, Browning will get at least one more week as the starter. It is, however, clear that his leash is shrinking by the weak. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said earlier this week that the team is evaluating the quarterback position like any other heading into Week 6. The Giants have two backup quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, who could both be moved now that Jaxson Dart is the starter. Kirk Cousins is also sitting on the Falcons bench waiting for an opportunity of his own, though his bloated contract makes a trade difficult to swing.

The “evaluate it” bit is often the first step before a quarterback gets relieved of their duties. Browning’s confidence sounded shot in interviews after the game, and it would be surprising if the Bengals didn’t have a new quarterback at some point in the near future. The problem is that the only other one on their roster is Brett Rypien, and the Bengals are not often a team that has made win-now trades in search of better options. Still, throwing the “evaluate” quote out there shows that Browning won’t hold this job much longer without an immediate turnaround — if he’s given the chance — in Week 6.

The question about Taylor’s belief in Browning came following Taylor’s postgame remarks in which he said the team will “look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing.” Browning hasn’t been great in place of Joe Burrow. The backup has done most of his stat padding in meaningless garbage time, but the options behind him, which include journeymen Brett Rypien and Mike White, are unlikely to be much better. This felt like an inevitable problem the Bengals would face the moment Burrow (toe) went down in Week 2, but the Bengals’ offense has imploded in quick fashion. Since Week 3, the Bengals rank last in EPA per play, 31st in dropback success rate, and 29th in offensive success rate. It’s not good, folks. We’ll see if a change comes down the line, but as far as fantasy is concerned, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will be more inconsistent than usual no matter who is starting next week.