A former Chicago Bears quarterback has been called upon to help the Cincinnati Bengals following the significant toe injury to Pro Bowl starter Joe Burrow.
According to the team’s transaction wire, the Bengals promoted veteran quarterback Brett Rypien from their practice squad to their 53-man roster on Tuesday. They also placed Burrow — who is expected to miss three months — on the injured reserve list.
Rypien joined the Bengals during the 53-man roster cutdown in August after missing out on a roster spot with the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he spent training camp. He will now serve as the Bengals‘ No. 2 quarterback behind temp starter Jake Browning.
Rypien has only appeared in 10 games in his previous five NFL seasons, but he made two starts for the Denver Broncos in 2022, completing 62.5% of his passes (45-of-72) for 422 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Bengals also signed quarterbacks Sean Clifford and Mike White to their practice squad on Tuesday, giving Rypien some competition if he falls short of expectations.
Brett Rypien Vied for Bears Backup QB Role in 2024
Rypien wound up spending quite a bit of time with the Vikings in 2024, serving as the team’s top backup behind former starter Sam Darnold before signing Daniel Jones in November and bumping Rypien to the practice squad. But before he landed with the Vikings, Rypien vied for the Bears‘ top backup job behind starter Caleb Williams.
The Bears signed Rypien to a one-year contract in 2024 free agency and competed with former UDFA Tyson Bagent for the No. 2 quarterback position throughout camp. While Rypien completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts for 335 yards and three touchdowns in his four preseason games for the Bears, the team ultimately decided to stick with Bagent.
The Bears would have likely considered bringing back Rypien as the No. 3 quarterback on their practice squad, but he opted instead to accept an offer from the Vikings to join their active roster; though, he did not go on to play any regular-season snaps for them.
Could Brett Rypien See Real Playing Time for Bengals
Rypien does not have a wealth of NFL playing experience heading into his latest active-roster opportunity. The Bengals have also expressed confidence in Browning — a 2019 UDFA — to keep the offense running as its starting quarterback in Burrow’s absence.
“It’s never been too big for him,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Monday. “He’s always known that he’s ready. He just wanted an opportunity. That’s all he wants. I think he comes in the building every day knowing something like this can happen today.
“We’ve had that confidence every step of the way with Jake.”
If Browning falters, though, Rypien would have an opportunity to play his first regular-season snaps since the 2023 season — if the Bengals truly feel they can trust him.
Last time out, Rypien completed 13-of-28 passes for 130 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in his lone start for the Los Angeles Rams in 2023. He also fumbled twice, losing one of them to the Green Bay Packers in the Rams‘ Matt Stafford-less 20-3 loss.
The Bengals would likely prefer more efficiency from their starting quarterback, but they won’t be in a position to be choosy if something sidelines Browning.
Bengals Promote Ex-Bears QB to Roster After Joe Burrow Injury