QB Joe Flacco (11.22.23)
Did you think you’d be doing one of these again after the way last season ended?
“Well, I kind of figured I probably would be, the way last season ended. But you know, as I sat at home for most of this year, I was probably beginning to lose a little bit of faith in that.”
What brought you out and brought you here to Cleveland?
“Well, listen, I got a call from my agent, and they asked to come work out. And I said, alright, I’m going to come work out. And they said alright this is what we’re going to do. And I just kind of nodded my head along the the way. And next thing you know, I’m here.”
Joe, what do you kind of see as your role here now that you’re here?
“I haven’t really looked that much into it. I want to take it day by day. And listen, I’m a veteran guy that’s been around a lot at this point in the season with a team that’s doing well. So, I think there’s a lot of different things that I can bring to the table. But I honestly just want to keep it day-to-day and focus on what I can. And right now, that’s just kind of learning the offense and becoming a part of the team.”
What do you think you got left in the game?
“Well listen, I think when you start talking about that, you can talk to your blue in the face and try to promote yourself or not or whatever it is. But however, this ends up playing out, I think you can look back at the way I finished the last game of the season last year. Not that were able to win that game, but I definitely believe I can still play. And like I said, I’m focused on the day-to-day. And as long as I can do that, then whatever happens, I think that whatever my role ends up being, and wherever this takes me, then I’ll do my best at that.”
Did you try to put DTR, Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) at ease, knowing that he’s got a Super Bowl winning quarterback behind him with all this experience, that could potentially take his job?
“I think he’s got – I’ve been there as a rookie. And you got so much going through your head, and you’re worrying about little things, and I’m talking about focusing on the daily grind, and I think there are little things throughout the day that he’s probably so focused on too, that the rest of it becomes kind of nonsense. And if you’re able to just focus on that little thing that you’re doing at that time, then that’s the best way you can kind of keep focus and keep the task at hand the most important. And it looks like he’s doing that.”
Joe, after all these years of facing the Cleveland Browns and many of us were here for all those games, how weird is it for you to be standing in front of orange footballs right now and wearing a Cleveland Browns sweatshirt?
“Yeah, I think it would probably be a little bit different if I was coming here four or five years ago, but having bounced around a few spots now, it’s probably not quite as different. Teams change so much from year to year in this league. Coaches change, organizations change. So, when you look back on it, they’re so separate that there’s probably a little bit of strangeness to it. But overall, like I said, you kind of come in here and you focus on meeting the new guys that are on your team, and it just feels like football, and that’s the most important thing.”
Joe, I remember covering a game in Baltimore. I think your wife was expecting that day. That day, and you went right after the game.
“He’s ten years old. He’s in fourth grade. She had him at 11:32. Thank God she had him before the game. I didn’t think it would affect me that much, to be honest with you, and I paced around that locker room until it happened. Definitely a good thing that it happened before 1:00.”
Joe, I know you’re looking for an opportunity, and this is the one that came about for you, but what have you gotten to know and appreciate about Coach (Kevin) Stefanski, Alex Van Pelt, the rest of the staff that made this a comfortable spot for you?
“Yeah, it’s funny. I mean, even before I came and worked out here, Gary Kubiak gave me a call and just had a lot of praise for these guys. And I trust Gary’s word. I was only with him one year, but very honest man, and so what he says goes and definitely had a lot of good things to say about it. So, I’ve seen that so far.”
How surprised were you that you weren’t on a team until this late in the season?
“I think, you know, I have a lot of pride in myself, and I think very surprised, at least early on and throughout the course of the off-season, you know, as the season kind of goes along, I think the surprise turns into other things, and you’re not necessarily surprised anymore. And listen, I think also this is my 16th year in a locker room, you’ve seen a million things. So, to be super surprised by something, you probably don’t have your head in the right spot. You shouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point.”
After the Browns, you agreed to come here, then Joe Burrow goes down. Just wondering, I mean, did you start to have any other phone calls or anything like that?
“No, you don’t even think about that stuff. You make a decision and you feel good about it. And really my decision was just some kind of opportunity, and I know I still want to play football and anything close to being put in the locker room and given that opportunity, all the other things kind of go out the window at that point. You don’t really look back.”
What were you doing to stay in, were you working out to stay in shape and get your did get a call?
“Of course. Yeah, listen, working out so much so part of my life now and throwing the football is so much fun now. Listen, I mean, I haven’t really been able to throw top-speed targets, but I’ve been able to keep my arm in shape and that stuff will come when you get out there and get with these guys.”
Do you think the way that you played against them last year had any factor in them pursuing you for this position, four touchdown?
“Who knows? I guess it doesn’t hurt to go play well when you do have an opportunity to, but you never know how that’s going to affect the future.”
In the workout for the Browns, did they want to see how mobile it still might be?
“You have to ask them what they wanted to see. But I was excited to do it. I’ve never been through a workout since I came out of Delaware, so I was excited to get in there and do it. And I got to tell you, you want to go impress. So, you feel a little bit of something when you’re going out there and working out, like I’m sure everybody does, but it was cool and it was a good workout.”
Joe, 7-3, obviously speaks for itself in a lot of ways, but what are your impressions of the team and what do you think it’s capable of?
“They seem like a very close group and when you’re sitting back at home on Sundays and you can watch all the games and these AFC North games always tend to be good. So the Browns, you know, they were probably on the TV screen a lot. These guys have obviously really put it together on defense. They’ve run the ball consistently all year, even with losing out on the best back in the league with (Nick) Chubb. So it’s been impressive to watch them kind of just continue to fight. And when you’re here in the locker room, you hear about how close the team is from some of the guys that I know and you can see it right away.”
So, Joe, is your ten-year-old, was he a Ravens fan and is he now ready to switch allegiances and become a Browns fan?
“My gosh, those guys were so young when I was in Baltimore. They’re at an awesome age now to really love football, and they do. They like guys from all over the league, mostly receivers, and they love it. But yeah, my second, my ten-year-old, probably all of them to a certain extent, but him especially, his Christmas list has like 50 Browns things on it almost instantly.”
Three boys?
“Four boys.”
Were they your low-speed targets?
“Yeah, I was using a small ball in the front yard when I went throwing to those guys. So maybe not the best thing.”
What’s the oldest and youngest age?
“My oldest is eleven. My youngest is five.”
Where do you live?
“We’re outside of Philly.”
You’ve accomplished a lot in your career. You’ve thrown for 40,000 yards. You’ve won the Super Bowl. Why do you still want to play?
“To a certain extent, it’s all I know. I still have a lot of fun doing it. I do feel like I have stuff left in the tank, so I owe it to myself to continue to push forward and try to play the game that I love until I really don’t feel like I can do that.”
Is one of your best memories the 31-30 victory over the Browns last year in week two. Can you just relive what that must have been like for you?
“There’s a ton of memories to rank that one. I don’t know where it would rank, but in terms of just how crazy it was and how unlikely, it was probably the craziest game that I’ve been a part of in the finish. The locker room after that game, sorry guys, I mean, it was another level, but it was week two. I think these guys have a lot more, we have a lot more to play for at this point in the season. Ten weeks in at 7-3. So, this is when it really gets exciting.”
There have been a number of cases, of guys, Nick Foles comes to mind who got in there just at the right time to lead his team to a Super Bowl. That cross your mind with the Browns?
“I’m sure it’s crossed my family’s mind. I mean, in my case, like I said, you really have to focus on the daily part of it and taking it day-by-day. And five, six days ago that was coming out here and making sure that I could have the best workout that I’ve had. Now it’s coming in here and grinding away and trying to learn the offense and listening to everything during the walkthroughs and also becoming part of the team, prove that I belong to be on the team, go out to practice today and when I throw the ball, make sure people see that I can still do it. And I mean my teammates. You want to be a part of the locker room for real. And I think that’s the number one goal when you first come onto a team.”
How long does it take to learn the offense here?
“It depends. I mean, there is some familiarity with some of the verbiage that Kevin (Stefanski) has and things like that, so it makes certain parts of it a little bit easier. Then, you know, as you look at the whole offense and then you kind of pare it down to a game plan that makes it a little bit easier also. So, you can kind of take hold and then break it down into a part and you can get it pretty quickly.”
Those Ravens teams you were part of, they won a lot of games. They were good in the clutch in late game situation. What goes in the mindset of a team that makes them that helps them succeed in those moments like this team has done this year?
“You look back on those teams and I think playing in this division and we always had a lot of tight games and we lost some of them and we won some of them. But listen, so many good games. You try to tell people when I played against the Cleveland Browns, when there weren’t a ton of wins here every year, there were a ton of really good games. And when you get used to playing the close games in the fourth quarter where you’re not just blowing people out, it really lends itself well to playing playoff football, because you know you’re going to face good defenses and good offenses, and sometimes throughout the year you can kind of just go out there and beat up on a team and you win 35-15. And what are you getting out of that besides kind of getting your confidence going and everything like that? But when you can play tight games consistently and when things are muddy, kind of like last week against the Steelers, you know, you’re not going to have clean games against those guys no matter how you might feel you should do. I think those things all kind of help the mental part of it and the resilience of the team come late in the season.”
How glad are you that you are on the same team as Myles Garrett now, as opposed to having to worry?
“You’ve lined up across from him, now, get to see him in person. They always look a little bit more inviting and friendly when they’re not in their uniform and helmet and shoulder pads. But, yeah, he’s a monster and he’s had a hell of a year. So definitely good to be on the same side as him. ”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***