QB Joe Flacco (12.26.23)
Joe, how excited are you for the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot potentially on Thursday?
“Yeah, I mean, listen, we talked about it a little bit after the game this past week. It seems like every week you look at the game and you’re like, man, this is a big one, this is a big one and it’s just another one of those. I think, once again, we can worry about that when the game is all said and done, but just go out there and focus on winning.”
You’ve been through a lot of big games through the course of your career, but is it even for you, a little bit surreal that two months ago you didn’t have a team and now you got a chance to clinch a playoff spot in a couple of days?
“I guess to a certain extent. But when you come back out here and you kind of get with everybody and you start playing games, you kind of fall right back into feeling like you’ve been doing this for a while. So at this point, it feels pretty good to just be back out there and all that.”
Joe, you’re big story in New York this week. What are your feelings about the Jets? On them not calling you back and waiting at home.
“Listen, man, there’s all kinds of things that happen throughout the course of the season and offseason and things like that, and I enjoyed my time while I was there and it is what it is. I’m happy to be where I am, that’s for sure. Listen, there’s 32 teams in the NFL. They’re just one of those teams. I’ve got a lot of guys over there I really respect and had an awesome few years with in that locker room, so a lot of respect for those guys.”
Joe, what’s been the most kind of surreal moment over the course of the last month or so as you’ve gone through this whole thing. The moment where it maybe it left you shaking your head the most.
“Yeah, listen, I think to a certain extent you can look at the whole thing and do that if you want to. But like I said, I think when you’re in the moment, you just kind of fall back into another season, another locker room and going out there and playing football. And when you’re on the field on Sundays and you’re playing football, you can feel like you’re at home. So that stuff kind of goes away. And like I said, I’m not really thinking about that. All that stuff at this point if I wanted to, like I said, it could probably be all of it. But at this point, it’s just go out there and play and try to make it as normal as possible.”
You made a comment after the game Sunday that at least now that you’re playing you could watch games, whereas when you weren’t playing, you were kind of bitter about not playing. Didn’t it cross your mind how many times that the Jets didn’t call you, considering what they went through?
“No, not really. The only reason they crossed my mind is because people ask me, ‘Hey, are the jets going to call you.” Like as soon as something happens, like all your buddies and everybody like that. But other than that, no, it really hasn’t.”
What’s the most challenging aspect of having the quick turnaround? Being on the road in Houston and you got to come back and play on Thursday night.
“I think always when you’re talking about these Thursday games, it’s going to be the physicality of it. Maybe not for the quarterback necessarily, but when you’re talking about football, you’re talking about playing a really physical game and that’s the most important thing when it comes down to it in terms of winning games, it’s the battles in the trenches. So I think that’s always the number one thing that you talk about when you talk about these games.”
What about the fact that you guys still have an opportunity to win the AFC North and you’ve been through a lot of really heated AFC North battles. I know it’s not going to be easy, but it’s still there for you.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s something that we can think about. Kevin’s (Stefanski) really big on 1-0 and all that other stuff kind of falls into place. You just got to go out there and take care of business on the field and then when the dust settles, you look up and see where you are. But it’s really not that important.”
Now that you’ve had a month, how do you feel physically compared to, say, like a decade ago? Your arms, just your body? Is it really a turn back the clock situation?
“Listen, quarterback is like a week to week thing in terms of how you feel physically. Some weeks you can be sore into Wednesday and Thursday and other weeks you can feel great on Monday and Tuesday. I still feel like my body responds pretty well. I’m probably a little bit unrealistic in that maybe I don’t quite remember being 25 years old anymore, but there’s so many tools that we have available today and people are so much more just aware generally of how to kind of keep your body in shape and the way it should be and then react to these kind of things, the way it should be. So I feel really good about where my body is, but these guys have also done a great job of protecting me, so that’s been great.”
What was your Christmas like with the family?
“Oh, it was great. I think I slept into like 7:30 and got a call from my wife because they were still back home and they did the whole Christmas morning thing. And I kind of was sitting there on the table on FaceTime and they weren’t paying any attention to me. I hung out for a little bit, but then I was like, ‘All right, I’ll talk to you later. Get me off of this thing. Let them have fun.'”
They didn’t come?
“They flew out yesterday afternoon. So, like yesterday evening they got here.”
They get a lot of Browns gear?
“They got some Browns gear. They came in with some, they got some more. They’re all loaded up. That’s for sure.”
Joe, have these five weeks gone fast or does it feel like a long time ago that you showed up here?
“Time flies, man. Weeks don’t even exist anymore. The months barely do. You look up and it’s like, shoot, man, it’s almost 2024 here. A couple more days and we’re looking at that. Time flies. It goes quick.”
Joe, when you got here, obviously your confidence was high that you could still play. Maybe your expectations were a little tempered. I don’t know. Has this been beyond what you even expected in terms of your production and how well things have gone?
“I mean, you could probably say that just in terms of like, you think you’re coming into a good situation with a good team and there’s a possibility for this, but you never quite know. It’s up to you and your teammates to go out there and do that. And I think what I’ve probably noticed is that you kind of from the outside think this is a pretty good situation, but when you get here, it’s an even better situation.”
You’ve played so many games here, but you haven’t seen this home crowd celebrate that often. What do you think it could be like Thursday night with a chance to clinching a playoff spot?
“I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest with you, how they would kind of take it in, but it could definitely be a really cool moment. Just have to go out there and make it happen on Thursday.”
I wanted to ask you about that game last year, when you arrived you said sorry. Was it one of the most memorable games of your career?
“It’s definitely the craziest finish and therefore pretty damn memorable. I mean, listen, there was like a 99.9% chance in that game. You kind of feel like you’re out of it. In one respect, it is so memorable just because of that. And on the other side of it, you’re kind of thinking, man, that’s just so random. Like how lucky did we get? There’s so many things that have to happen there, so you see it every week. No matter what. These games tend to come down to the last couple of minutes and that was just another one of those.”
How does your connection with Amari (Cooper) just work so well for you?
“I mean, I’ve said it a million times, he’s an unbelievable player and I think that’s as simple of answer as it can be. And it’s just the truth. He’s really good and he makes it go.”
Joe, back to physically how you feel. In terms of the arm strength and how the passes are coming out, how would you compare that now to, say, your rookie year or ten years ago? Does it feel the same?
“Listen, you hate to try to talk about yourself in somewhat positive light, but my arm feels great. I don’t know if I can throw the ball quite as far as I did back then, probably because I don’t take time out of my day to work on throwing the ball as far as I can anymore. But in terms of arm strength and just on the intermediate routes and all those types of things and keeping my arm in shape, I think that’s the biggest thing. I feel the same as I always have.”
A Christmas party I went to, everybody was talking about Joe Flacco. Have you gotten his sense of how you kind of captured this town in such a short time?
“The city’s been unbelievable. I can’t say enough about how welcoming everybody has been. Especially – that is the one strange part, I would say. Not necessarily putting on the uniform and playing, but just coming from Baltimore for most of my career and just seeing everybody out in your regular part of your day and how welcoming the city’s been. Back to the surreal thing, that would probably be a good answer for that. It’s definitely been a little bit surreal in terms of how people have treated me around here. That stuff always feels good, so hopefully we keep going.”
Did you watch the Baltimore game last night and just how good is that team and what was running through your mind?
“I just watched a few plays. My boys were in there. We let them watch the first half. Dude, they’re always there, man. They’re a great organization, really well coached, a ton of talent, and they make sure they bring the right guys in that are going to fight for 60 minutes. They’re going to be able to deal with adversity. You could talk those guys up forever. They’re just a really good football team. That’s why they’re in it every single year and when they’re really rolling they get better as the year goes on. They get more physical and all those things. So standard stuff I think for those guys. I think they should be excited where they are for sure.”
Joe, going into this game on Thursday. I know obviously rosters change, but your
experience with the Jets going against their defense during practice. Does that help at all in this scenario?
“You kind of have that in the back of your mind. Does it help? Does it hurt? They’re probably thinking it helps them. Maybe I’m thinking it helps me. Who knows? You’re running a slightly different offense. They’re a whole ‘nother year evolved into what they really feel like they do well. So I think at the end of the day, once you kind of cross over the white on game day, that’s really what matters. So all that kind of other stuff goes aside.”
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