The Cincinnati Bengals signed quarterback AJ McCarron to their 53-man active roster on Monday, the NFL team announced, making the former Alabama All-American eligible to play in Monday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Bengals signed McCarron for the active roster from their practice squad, which he joined on Sept. 23.

Last week, McCarron served as the backup for quarterback Jake Browning, but he did so as a practice-squad elevation, a designation that can be applied to a player three times during a season.

Browning was in the lineup for the Bengals’ 16-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 26 because Joe Burrow sustained a season-ending wrist injury in 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16.

Before stepping in when Burrow went down, Browning had played four NFL regular-season snaps in his career.

Browning completed 8-of-14 passes for 68 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran four times for 40 yards against the Ravens.

In going all the way under center against Pittsburgh, Browning completed 19-of-26 passes for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran three times for 9 yards.

McCarron joins an NFL active roster during the regular season for the first time since the 2020 campaign. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an Atlanta Falcons’ preseason game on Aug. 21, 2021, and spent the season on injured reserve.

After sitting out the 2022 season, McCarron played for the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks earlier this year, and he led the league in touchdown passes, completion percentage and passing-efficiency rating.

McCarron filled the active-roster spot left vacant when cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was placed on injured reserve on Monday.

Both players are former Alabama high school quarterbacks – McCarron at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile and Taylor-Britt at Park Crossing in Montgomery.

After intercepting four passes while starting the first 10 games of the season, Taylor-Britt missed the game against Pittsburgh with an ankle injury and now must miss at least Cincinnati’s next four contests.

The Bengals and the Jaguars square off at 7:15 p.m. CST Monday at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

After playing in the Super Bowl for the 2021 season and the AFC Championship Game for the 2022 season, Cincinnati has lost its past three games to slip to 5-6 in 2023.

The Jaguars have won seven of their past eight games to get to 8-3.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.