QB Joe Flacco (12.13.23)
From a health standpoint, I mean, you know, I don’t know if you were sore on Monday or what have you, but does it kind of help that you hadn’t played in a long time in terms of being able then to make it through the drive here?
“Yeah, I’m sure at this point like that, I ultimately feel a little bit more fresh than most guys know. When you’ve been through a whole long season, even though your body kind of gets used to the wear and tear, you’re dealing with something. So, at this point, to be able to come in healthy, even though I haven’t dealt with getting hit and all that, you’re always healthier and more fresh in the beginning. And that’s kind of what this is for me.”
Joe, you said the other day that after the game that the Browns didn’t call right away. So, what are you thinking, I guess during that period where they don’t call and then when they do call and then how the workout goes, did you know right away you were coming?
“Well, obviously I didn’t know I was going to be here, so hindsight is a different thought process than when it’s in the moment. I don’t think it was really any different Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday than I had been doing because I hadn’t gotten a call to that point and just hadn’t, you know what I’m saying? So now to look back and say, okay, I didn’t come out here until Friday to work out and stuff like that, I don’t know. It’s tough to explain just the difference. I really wasn’t thinking much of it, though.”
Almost every week here before you arrived, the question was, who’s playing quarterback this week? For various reasons that’s been established, I guess now after the game coach named you started for the rest. Does that change, anything in your mind? Make it easier to prepare for the journey ahead?
“No, I think in your mind you got to take it week to week anyway and act like you’re the guy and focus on being the guy. So really nothing else changes. We still want to go out there and have a good week’s worth of work, and that’s really what it all comes down to.”
Joe, did you watch games on Sunday and you were waiting for the opportunity or was it kind of weird to watch games?
“It’s always a little strange to watch games, but what else are you really doing on Sundays? You usually do a few things in the morning with the kids. I watched a good bulk of the 1:00 p.m. games, and then after that I tended not to watch as many as of the 4:30 p.m. or the night games.”
What do you see when you look at this Bears defense, Joe?
“Well, they’ve been creating turnovers recently, and I think they make you kind of go the long way and just be patient.”
Joe, I think it was Ryan Clark said you tried out for a TV show, like, is that something you really considered just being done and being an analyst? Or how did that kind of play out?
“I really don’t want to have to ever do that stuff. 15 years ago, I would have told you no chance at all. These days, I think you at least entertain the option, but yeah, I know. I don’t know if you guys know me at all, but that’s the last thing I really want to do with my life.”
Did you audition?
“Yeah, no, I went over. Listen, they were actually doing a thing at NFL films, which I live 15 minutes from, so it was a good little way to go kind of feel it out and see if it was something that you’d be interested in doing, could get better at, whatever it may be. Listen, that’s kind of what I mean. Like, 15 years ago, it would have been just a hard no, but it still took some convincing for me to get over there. But at the end of the day, it was an experience that was probably worth having.”
Joe, Myles (Garrett) said after the game, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to be one of them, if you’re not already one of them. How important is that to hear from the captain’s football team?
“Yeah well, that’s important. I think I’ve talked about it from day one, just becoming part of the team and wanting to prove that you deserve to be a part of the team. So that’s always important for a player.”
What were you better at the second game? What were you better at the second time?
“Oh man. Well, I think some of the things that I talked about, like, in terms of being able to get out of the pocket when I needed to, and just not that it was a ton, but I still think there were some similarities that showed up in some of the other things. The thing I was disappointed in on a few plays were just my feet and the routes, and I threw a couple of bad balls that I’m not used to throwing just because I don’t feel like my feet were tied in with my eyes and all that stuff. So more just conscious of still the improvements I need to make as opposed to what I improved on.”
What are some of the quarterbacks that you may have heard from? I heard Peyton (Manning) say something nice about you on tv the other day. Have you heard from some of the quarterbacks that were your peers throughout your career? And if so, can you share anything that maybe somebody has?
“I’ve mostly heard the last few weeks of just guys that I’ve played with, coaches that I’ve been with, whether it’s people from Baltimore, Delaware, New York. I think you make a lot of relationships with the people that you play with, and that’s kind of always how I’ve been. Everybody always asks me, do you have a relationship with this guy or this guy? I’m kind of private as it is and I have a lot of relationships with the guys that I’ve played with, but outside of that, I’ve never really gone out of my way to probably make a ton of those relationships. I don’t want to be a bother, but I’ve mostly, like I said, heard from the people that I’ve played with and the coaches that I’ve had in the past and all that, and it’s been fun.”
Joe, we’ve talked about how fast this all happened. We’d have told you 89 passes in the first two games, would you have thought that was coming?
“Listen, I’ve been around long enough to know that you really can’t set some kind of expectation and expect that to actually come true. This is the NFL. You get into these games and each game is its own thing and you just have to do what’s meant for you to what’s made for you during the game. Listen, when you’re out there playing, you don’t even realize how many times you’re dropping back. It’s just kind of part of what happens.”
Joe, as you’ve gotten on with this team, how has your relationship with Kevin (Stefanski) grown just as you’re affirmative to him as a coach?
“Yeah, listen, I think he does a great job and I think he deserves a lot of credit obviously, with the amount of variables that he’s been dealing with this year. And for me and him, it’s just obviously the more he gets a feel for what we’re good at while I’m back there and the more we can talk in the meeting rooms, obviously, the more I play, the more conversations, the more easily conversations come up. So you get a better feel for each other that way.”
Did you see that Myles (Garrett) called you Kevin Stefanski’s long lost brother?
“Somebody was saying that last mean, you know, I’m a guy with a beard. I could shave it off and look completely different tomorrow, so I probably should. It’s just playing into the fact that I’m an older quarterback. If I shaved this off, it would probably take five years off.”
Joe, Wyatt Teller was saying that down the stretch the other day, you were kind of, I think he called you a calming voice of reason in the final couple of minutes. How important is that role for you just to kind of keep everybody on task and in the moment?
“I don’t think it’s like actively what I’m trying to do out there at this point, but I hope that my personality and my playing style can definitely bring that along with it. And that’s what a quarterback’s job is. That’s what a leader’s job is. So I’m glad to hear that. And like I said, at this point in my career, it’s not like I’m super conscious of it anymore, but definitely want to be that guy.”
Joe, kind off of Tom’s (Wither) question just about you’ve been in a lot of big situations, big moments over your career. Now you’re in the midst of a playoff push here. How much is that experience going to help you and what can you impart on these guys as they try to close out?
“It’s always tough to quantify the experience thing and how much it actually matters because in the moment on Sunday, it comes down to what you’re doing on that individual play. But I’m a big believer in that being in tough situations prepares you for the toughest of situations. And if you’re a team that deals with a lot of adversity and plays these tight teams, even though it’s not exactly what you want all the time and it’s not perfect, and it definitely prepares you for games that are going to have to be that way down the stretch. I think early in my career, every now and then we would beat up on a team and blow them out and it wouldn’t be a game in the fourth quarter. But I feel like the teams I was on back then played so many games where it came down to the last drive or the last five minutes of the game, and you just get used to treating them like normal situations and not overreacting in those situations. So I think the more that a team like this can deal with those, then the better off we’ll be. And Sunday was kind of like that. It was that environment. Whatever you believe, whatever you believe that should have happened in that game or we should have done that to that team. It was what it was and it came down to the last couple minutes of the game, and I think in the long run it’s one of those things that we can kind of draw from in the end and realize that we don’t have to overreact and panic in those situations. We can just stay true to ourselves and go play the gamee”
Joe, I know you didn’t play at all with Jed Wills. You only had the one game with Dawand (Jones), but how can you guys kind of react and deal with losing both starting tackles within two days?
“It’s just the next man up. You can’t really think about it. I mean, we found out late last week, I guess, that Dawand wasn’t going to be able to go. And it’s a shame. I mean, you want your guys out there, but like, are all the, everybody in here is our guy and it’s just next man up mentality. And that’s what I talked about earlier. I think you have to give a lot of credit to Kevin (Stefanski) just for dealing with those variables and being able to continue to go out there and have success.”
Have you ever been part of a season where you’ve just seen this mass amount of injuries? I mean, injuries are always going to happen, but you stepped into it. You weren’t here for all of them. But just to have this sheer number, how do you keep spirits up and not let that be demoralized when you see more guys?
“Yeah, I’ve probably been part of seasons where we’ve been injured like this. I don’t know of anywhere where we’re still standing 8-5. So, I think the fact that we’ve been able to go out there, these guys have been able to go out there and still put together a bunch of wins has definitely helped the mindset in terms of that. Obviously, if it was the other way, you wouldn’t be feeling as good, but I think going out there and winning cures a lot.”
What is it like for you to be able to incorporate some of these younger guys and spread that ball around and have moments like David Bell’s first career touchdown. What’s it like for you to be a part of that?
“It’s a lot of fun after the fact. I mean, during the game, you’re just trying to throw to the ball to the right guy and find the open guy. But I don’t know if you guys saw when he was running into the end zone the big smile he had on his face. At the end of the day, that’s really what it’s all about. It’s about going out there and having fun and competing and enjoying the process of it all. So definitely really cool to see that ”
Joe, can I start one more? I’m sorry. I’m just curious, now that you’re back out there, have you given any thoughts how much longer you want to do this?
“Not specifically. I don’t know if I’ve ever, I think probably early on, people would ask me, how long do you want to play? And you probably say 15 years or something. But at this point, I don’t really want to put a number on anything. I just want to go out there and play my best and then see where that goes. I think I’ve been in enough situations now to realize that it may or may not be up to me. So, you just got to go out there and play and don’t take anything for granted.”
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