Brian Callahan reveals why the Cincinnati Bengals first signed Jake Browning when they did

Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is taking all of his experiences and wisdom from five years in the Queen City down south as the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

One of the last tasks he had as a coach for the Bengals was getting the most out of quarterback Jake Browning. Cincinnati's final seven games were played with Browning under center, and the results were better than expected thanks to the backup QB.

Needless to say, Callahan and the rest of the team couldn't have seen of that way back when Browning first joined the team. In Callahan's words, Browning's arrival was more strategic than anything.

As a guest on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast, Callahan revealed that the Bengals signed Browning to the team's practice squad primarily because the Minnesota Vikings cut him right before they were set to play the Bengals to open the 2021 season.

Callahan made sure to clarify they were intrigued with Browning the player, but his intel on the upcoming opponent was the focal point for his arrival.

"I mean, we stole him off the practice squad before we played Minnesota in 2021 and we brought him in to ultimately sort of flush him for information," Callahan said of Browning. "You know ... He came in and we liked his tape and we didn't bring him in just for that, we thought he was a good player, but that's just how the league works. You cut guys loose and we played them in Week 1 so we signed him, and he comes in he starts and, this guy's like really smart."