QB Joe Flacco (7.24.25)
So at minicamp, we talked about you taking periods off and then you start yesterday, and you took that period off. Do you expect that to change the closer we get to Carolina and Philly?
“You know, it’s tough to have expectations. I think there’s been some communication between probably all the quarterbacks and Kevin (Stefanski). So, yeah, I guess I know a little bit what to expect, at least for the next week. But you can’t ask me. It’s hard for me to tell what it’s going to look like, you know, two, three weeks from now.”
I know Kevin said he’s looking to make a decision sooner rather than later, but is there a date in your mind where if you’re the guy, you want to know that you’re the guy?
“I think there’s like ideal situations, obviously, and then there’s just like the reality of the situation and, you know, it’s one of those things that I really don’t have any control over. So, I’m really not worried about when anything happens. Obviously there’s advantages to knowing, you know, earlier than later, but hey, it’s just part of the game.”
Joe, I asked this, and it feels a little more relevant to you because we’ve seen you maybe not take as many snaps during practice, but like, what does the day to day look like before practice, after practice, where if you’re not getting as many reps, you’re still staying locked in, staying prepared and getting up?
“Well, it’s the same. I mean, like, you’re still out here grinding and going through a lot of individuals. I mean, yesterday, come on, we ran like 20 plays total anyway. You know, it’s not like we had a heavy load. So, yeah, it’s just staying locked in and focused during the meeting time, which is a lot of what we’re doing right now anyway. The thing for me is if, like, if you’re not getting a ton of reps out there, and you’re only getting a certain amount of throws through individual, it’s just like maybe keeping an equipment guy out and just playing some long toss or something like that just to make sure your arm’s still getting the load that it’s kind of gotten over the last three, four weeks as you’re kind of getting ready to come back.”
I was going to ask, how determined are you to win this starting job, and what do you have to do?
“It’s tough to look at it that way. I mean, I’m as determined as ever to just be the best quarterback that I can be. It’s so easy to, and I do it, I’m guilty of it. It’s so easy to look ahead and picture yourself as the starter and hearing that news and things like that. Second day of camp, I think the best thing for me is to just stay in the moment and come out here and have fun and like compete, and just do what I love to do. I think that’s going to be the best way for me to show what I can do, and all that stuff. I think there’s a lot of self-motivation in order to be good at this in this league, and that’s always there. So, I’m just going to continue to approach it like I always do.”
So, from what you know of this system, this year, is play action more prevalent than in 2023, less prevalent or the same?
“I would think it’s very similar. Like it’s a big part of what we want this offense to look like. And I wasn’t here in training camp in the first half of the season in ‘23. I know it was a lot of what we did, and it’s kind of a lot of what this offense typically is. Just from talking, you know, the way we’re talking about it in meetings and stuff like that, like it’s a big part, and it’s important to us to be good at it.”
So, Joe, you’ve obviously done this a long time. Your process, how has it changed between the end of minicamp and now? How did you kind of approach it? Do you approach it any differently now to get ready for this point?
“I think you learn probably little things every year. It’s generally been the same. It is the most important time, you’re at home and then you get three months from January to April or whatever it is, February to April, and those are important to kind of get your body back going and get back in shape. And then you kind of show up here and you put the work in with your guys, but it’s still a decent time away from training camp. So the trap that I think you can fall in is just not having something in place when you’re young, going back home for five weeks and being left to your own devices. If you don’t have that schedule at least for me, if you don’t have a kind of a set schedule, then things start to lack and you start to like you just slowly, ‘Oh, I’m gonna work out at two today. Oh, I’m gonna work out at four. I’m gonna workout at six. Oh, shoot. The day got by.’ You know, it’s just immaturity. So, just as my career has gone on, just finding people to hold you accountable and make sure that, it’s not just you. Like, believe me, holding yourself accountable is a huge part of it, and you learn how to do that, but it’s for even the guys that are at the very top. It’s very helpful to have other people that can kind of keep you to that, make sure you’re ready, but it’s just giving your arm that load. I don’t necessarily throw a lot before we come back here for the offseason, but leading up to this, I love to throw, so it’s a lot of fun. And the one thing that’s changed this year is I’m out there with my family, and I’m trying to teach my boys three-step, five-step drops, and I’m freaking out on them because they’re not getting it right away and stuff like that, but I’m throwing a lot in those five weeks.”
Joe, you talked about staying in the moment, how much easier is it to do that in your 18th season than as a rookie?
“It’s always a battle, man. It’s always a battle. It’s always one of those things I think you learn a little bit. We were having this conversation yesterday in the locker room with a few guys, just because guys are looking for advice, and I’m not a great giver of advice. But staying in the moment is very important. And you do realize that as you mature and you realize the moments, man, like, that why wasn’t I in the zone there? And I still don’t know if I have the answer, the perfect answer as to how to stay in the moment. I know staying in the moment is super important, but the how to actually do that is the grind of it all. And I think the biggest thing to do is just keep your head down, you know, go in that meeting and attack that meeting. Just, like, remind yourself of being present and really divvying it up and doing one thing at a time.”
Joe, historically, your sack totals have been relatively low. Certainly, was in ’23 in the five games you played, and you’re no Lamar Jackson either. So, what’s your philosophy on avoiding sacks? How have you done it?
“Listen, I think you can look at every single sack, and it’s very team oriented and at the same time, the quarterback is very responsible. I think you could make both arguments depending on what you’re trying to say. But the biggest thing for me is being on time and playing in the rhythm of the offense. And then I think even in ’23, you saw it a little bit. It wasn’t like, I’m just standing back there completely. Like, I think when you are in good rhythm, and you do have the benefit of having five guys up front that are really good at their job, that’s when your feet can kind of tell you, ‘Okay, it’s time to get out, you know, and it’s time to do those other things.’ It starts with me with playing in rhythm, being on time with my feet, and then therefore being on time to throw, to get the ball out of my hands. And then the added benefit is when you are really good upfront, even a guy like me who is not like my number one priority will be given chances to get kind of get out and make some plays in those kinds of conditions.”
Is it added pressure that you have five children that are expecting you to win this starting job and be the starting quarterback?
“Yeah, I mean, I went home in the beginning of June. They’re like, ‘Are you the starter?’ It’s not added pressure. It makes it a lot of fun. It almost takes pressure off because that almost helps put me in the moment and see it for what it is. You wish you could see it as from an 11, 12, 13-year old’s eyes. So, when you hang around them, and you see the questions they ask and the way they phrase things, it honestly kind of helps. It helps put things in the moment and kind of really reminds you of what’s important and why this game is so important to you, so it’s just a good reminder.”
Joe, at the end of last year, was there any sort of fear that “I’m gonna end up on my couch again, nobody’s gonna call or anything like that?”
“There really wasn’t. I feel like the last two years I really kind of went in pretty optimistic into the offseason, but then the time comes up where you start signing guys, and you don’t necessarily hear from people. So of course, like, that kind of enters into your mind. But I don’t really think I have a negative outlook on it. Like, there’s only so many things. It goes back to that. There’s only so many things you can control, and you can go out there and play the best you can in hopes of giving people that vision of what you can do for them. But if nobody bites, as long as I can look at myself and have an idea that I did the right things and I’m happy with what I did. You learn that that’s what matters. And you can’t worry about the decisions of other people.”
When you heard from Cleveland, then what were kind of your emotions and all that? Because you were out there for a while before the call.
“Yeah, sure, yeah. And we had talked and not talked, and you don’t know. I’m very excited to be back here. So, to get the call from these guys and learn that they actually did want to bring me back was very exciting, and I felt very good about it obviously.”
Everybody throws interceptions, I get it. Jameis Winston last year would pray to God to make it stop. They roll off your back. What’s your philosophy on picks?
“You don’t want to throw them. You want to be aggressive, and you want to be smart. I have thrown some picks recently, I feel like, but I do still pride myself on not. And making good decisions. And having said that, you know that they’re going to happen at some point. You want to be aggressive, but that’s not necessarily an excuse. Like, being aggressive is not an excuse. The goal as a quarterback is to make good decisions, be accurate, and take care of the football for your team. So ultimately that’s what you want to do. And you have to find that balance of being able to be yourself, be really aggressive and not turn that damn ball over. It’s very important.”
Do they affect you like Winston? They don’t affect you like Winston?
“It’s just one of those things. They affect me. Yeah, maybe I don’t show it. I hope I do a good job of not showing it, but man, like, yeah, there’s times where you turn the ball over, and there’s definitely times in your life as a 40-year-old where you wish you were like six years old and like it was acceptable to just cry about it. You can’t hide on an NFL field. And there’s times where you definitely want to, but you got to deal with it. You got to deal with it, man.”
What you went through in ’23 and having to wait for these guys to call you, like, does that give you a different outlook or appreciation for things like this? Like going through a position battle now and everything that you’re doing.
“Yeah, it definitely did. Especially right in the moment, when it was fresh like that. It does give you that outlook. Now, that only goes so long, but I think I can look back on, that was an experience that I got to go through myself. That’s not fresh. It’s not in my mind necessarily. But when you’re going through, when different thoughts are rattling around in your brain, and you don’t really want them to be there, that is one of those experiences I think, that I can draw on in my life and kind of remind myself of what I was feeling at that time and why. And that’s part of just learning through experience.”
You mentioned the offensive. Having a strong offensive line, a strong front. We know that they’re going through some changes. Dawand Jones playing left tackle, new coach up there. So, for you as a quarterback, how important is the communication and the work that you do on these fields and getting them ready for that week one and to be the strong front that you need?
“Yeah, it’s great to be out there with those guys and doing all that together. And at the same time, I have the utmost confidence in their coach and those guys because I’ve been with them, and I can see them working, that they are on top of their stuff. That’s the last position group that you’re going to have to worry about on this field. So even if you’re not directly working with them, you know, they’re getting in their work and dotting all their Is, crossing all their Ts to make sure that they’re on it.”
Kenny Pickett, when he came in here, when he first was acquired, he made it abundantly clear that he’s coming in here to start. He doesn’t want to sit. I know you feel the same way, so just between you two guys, what is that like to be out there every day knowing that, you know, that you have to beat each other out? And what mindset do you have?
“Listen, I think we’re all aware of that. And, you know, it’s not necessarily talked about between the two of us, but you obviously know what you have a little bit of insight as to what they may be thinking and those things, but it goes back to, like, that’s just focusing on – like, when you’re focusing on Kenny or Kenny’s focusing on me, and then we’re super focused on that in general. It’s kind of the wrong mindset to be in to be at your best. It’s natural for those things to come into your head, but if you try to do your best to get them out and just go out there and be with the guys and be in the moment.”
Joe, knowing where the team was last season, what gave you confidence that coming back you can kind of recapture what happened in 2023?
“I’m not trying to recapture. You know, every year is new. Every season’s new in this league. And listen, I’ve been in the locker room with these guys. I know what they’re all about. And it’s obviously not the same exact locker room, but there’s a lot of really good guys in there that know how to win football games. So that’s what gives you the confidence that you can come back here and win games. I don’t think it’s about trying to recreate anything. It’s a new season. Everybody has a fresh mindset, and a lot of the guys in there have a really good one to begin with. They know how to win football games, and that makes you feel good about lining up with them.”
There’s been a lot said already about the intensity of training camp this year. I know you weren’t here for that 2023 camp but you’ve also been a handful of places where camp has been run and I know you talked about your two days back in the day earlier in the spring, but even dating back to the spring, do you kind of sense that there’s different intensity?
“Yeah, listen, I think we’re taught you can talk a lot about how practices are actually structured, but I think what we’re talking about is just the mindset, you know, of a winner and a winning football team and what that takes. And it doesn’t matter if you’re out here for an hour or three hours. There’s a way that a winning team takes a field and approaches their craft. And I think there’s definitely a focus and you can definitely tell that we’re locked in to make sure that happens.”
Joe, you touched on it earlier, but getting to involve your kids and getting ready for training camp. Where did you guys typically go? What did you know, throwing sessions look like?
“Yeah, it looked a lot like, you know, September, October, before I signed here. Going out to a local high school field with my brother, my dad, and my kids and having them spot up and throw to them and kind of me do my thing and then at the end, bring them together and have them have a little bit of fun. And, you know, they’re gonna be playing football here in the next month and or two months, and I’ll probably miss some of it, but I’ll have a lot of family back there kind of checking in on them for me, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”
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