With starting quarterback Joe Burrow expected to miss the rest of the season, the Cincinnati Bengals’ new starting QB is Jake Browning, who replaced Burrow after the wrist injury.
But the Bengals have a familiar face backing up Browning in AJ McCarron, who turned 33 years old in September and was elevated Saturday to the active roster from the team’s practice squad.
“We’re turning to Jake,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters Friday. “Good to have AJ (McCarron), a veteran in the room who is getting more comfortable (in the system).”
Here’s what to know about McCarron, who played his first four NFL seasons for the Bengals:
McCarron was drafted by the Bengals in the fifth round in 2014.
The Bengals’ first-round pick in 2014 was defensive back Darqueze Dennard. McCarron, who starred at Alabama, is the only player still in the NFL from that Cincinnati draft class.
The first overall pick (by the Houston Texans) in the 2014 draft, Jadeveon Clowney, now with the Baltimore Ravens, hit Burrow on the play that injured him Thursday.
Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was the 12th overall pick in that draft.
McCarron was the Bengals’ QB in their 18-16 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2016.
Filling in for the injured Andy Dalton, McCarron completed 23 of 41 attempts for 212 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception in the only postseason game of his NFL career so far.
Dalton had fractured the thumb on his throwing hand against the Pittsburgh Steelers in December 2015. McCarron started the Bengals’ final three regular-season games, leading Cincinnati to a 2-1 record in those games with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
In 17 career games for the Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Texans, McCarron has completed 109 of his 174 attempts for 1,173 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
In 2017, the Bengals and Cleveland Browns discussed a trade for McCarron.
The Bengals had previously required a first-round pick in exchange for McCarron. The Enquirer reported that the Browns were willing to send 2018 second- and third-round picks in the deal, and confirmed the Browns did not send the paperwork to the league office because of a disconnect between the personnel department and the coaching staff about McCarron. The Browns tried to appeal to the NFL to get the deal done, and ESPN reported the league rejected the appeal.
The Browns worked out McCarron in 2022.
McCarron tore the ACL in his right knee during the first quarter of his team’s preseason loss to Miami. He missed the entire 2021 season.
McCarron starred for the St. Louis Battlehawks in the XFL earlier this year.
McCarron set the league’s single-season record for touchdown passes with his six-TD effort against Orlando.
He rallied St. Louis past San Antonio in his XFL debut, and led his team’s game-winning drive against Seattle four days later.
McCarron has said on multiple occasions that he joined the XFL team so that his sons could watch him play.
McCarron’s offensive coordinator in St. Louis was fellow former Bengals QB Bruce Gradkowski.
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