We’ve seen this before: NFL player has a great game, trots to the locker room and finds a text from the league ordering a drug test. Coincidence? Probably.
Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning is the latest. Browning rallied the Bengals with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-24, on Saturday, and shortly after the game, posted a screen grab of the NFL’s directive on his Instagram.
“This is Joe, DCO on behalf of the NFL. You’re on my list for a urine steroid test tomorrow,” the message said.
The NFL tests 10 players each week from the preseason to the playoffs, and the selection is supposed to be random.
Browning, filling in for Joe Burrow, won his third straight start and improved to 3-1 since Burrow suffered a season-ending right wrist injury in a loss at Baltimore. Browning threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime, becoming the fourth QB in the past two years to throw for at least that many yards and two or more scores after three quarters.
“I feel like I need a beer,” Browning said.
Browning was 29 for 42 for 324 yards with two touchdowns — both to Higgins — and an interception. He completed passes to 11 receivers and has a 110.9 passer rating in his four starts.
Browning beat a team that cut him from its practice squad two years ago and let them know that they had made a mistake.
“I think right after we made the field goal and won the game, I screamed at camera and said, ‘They never should have cut me,’” Browning said.
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