QB Joe Flacco (8.6.25)
Hey, Joe. So how did it feel to go, you know, against some different faces and get some different looks today?
“Yeah, it’s always a little bit fun. I mean, back in the day, it used to be like a nice break in camp, but today it was, you know, it’s not as much needed, but it’s always good to go against somebody else, see some different jerseys over there and, you know, kind of put yourself to the test a little bit.”
We saw a lot of flags out there. Did you think it was a sloppy day offensively?
“Yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing. I think it’s been a point of emphasis for us, like this camp. Pre-snap penalties, you know, like sometimes the stuff during the snap, like when you’re playing, it’s the pre snap ones are the one that we can control. It’s all mental. And I think we did have some of those today. And like I said, it’s been a point of emphasis for us throughout the whole camp. So, to come out here and get against another team where maybe you’re a little bit more revved up, I think that showed today. So, we need to just need to refine a little bit and this is probably a good environment for that because it allows you to realize, like, man, maybe I was a little bit…maybe I went a little overboard and allows you to kind of, the next time you’re faced with that, to relax a little bit more and just go play your game.”
You don’t think it’s been that big of a problem back home in the two weeks?
“I think it’s been something that we’ve been constantly on. You know, there’s been days where we’ve been really good and there’s been days where we’ve been not been good enough. I definitely think today was a little bit more so. And I think that’s natural, but, you know, it’s very controllable, so you don’t want to see it.”
Joe, what do you feel like is better and is getting better now that we’re in week three of camp and you’ve had two full weeks.
“There’s a little bit of it that’s tough to say because, like, you know, there’s only a certain amount of reps out there, but guys are competing. You know, guys are really getting after it. I think they’re starting to as much as they can, learn a little bit about themselves and be able to dig a little bit deeper and realize they’re starting to kind of the light bulb’s coming on of what it’s going to take to be that consistent team that we want to be. I think we, I think this organization, has been close over the years. You know, we’ve had some good teams here. Now it’s just about getting that consistency, that competition up every single day to push ourselves.
What do you expect to see from Shedeur (Sanders) now that we know he’s going to get the start on Friday night?
“Oh, it’ll be interesting. I think we’ll all be, you know, sitting there watching and be excited for, you know, football to be going real time. And I think he’s probably excited about that too. I mean, your first time to go in the NFL, I remember mine. I mean, I didn’t get to play until the last two minutes of the game, but it’s something that he’ll remember forever. I mean, you know, most of us have dreamt about this moment, you know, since were five, six, seven, eight-years old. So, for him to get a chance to go out there and actually take the field, even though it’s preseason, you know, we’re all going to be on the sidelines in that home and enjoying it.”
It’s going to be one of the most anticipated exhibition openers ever.
“For sure. You know, it’s so funny because, like, I don’t really think of it that way. You know, we’re just kind of going to work every day and doing our job and we’re in the room together. But yeah, that’ll make it exciting.”
(Jerry) Jeudy had a couple catches today. One handed tips. Now that you’ve played with him for three weeks, practiced with him. What do you think you got there?
“Yeah, Jerry’s good. Yeah, he’s a difference maker. He is. I’m excited for him, you know, because I think obviously he’s not with the team that he was drafted by, so I think he’s got a little chip on his shoulder just like all of us do in this league for one reason or the other. And you can tell that he’s a difference maker. So I’m excited for the things he’s doing.”
Joe, how have you noticed Shedeur kind of progressing just away from this, when he’s out there, just in the meeting rooms, I mean, have you noticed a difference in him?
“I think he’s come in from day one with a pretty good head on his shoulders, pretty good, like, method about how he thinks he should do things. And I think we’ve all been in that room together and all picked up little things from each other. So, I think he’s just staying the course and, you know, and continuing to try to grab a thing here.”
And then how about the dynamic of the rooms? Have you done any of the, “Oh back in my day, we did two days,” stuff?
“You know, it’s funny because I really don’t want to be that guy, but every single day there’s something that comes up like that and then you get in the moment, you start telling stories and you can’t help it. I can’t help myself. So, yes, there’s been a little bit of that.”
You and Tyler Huntley never crossed paths before.
“We didn’t. No, we didn’t. It’s funny though because like he – you know, man, I was telling a couple of the guys as I left the huddle today, like, he’s got the biggest smile on his face, holding his hand out, giving you a high five, got the biggest smile on his face. It’s a reminder of like, he just feels blessed to be out here and be on the grass playing football. And you know, we talked Baltimore a little bit because he was in Baltimore and spent some time with those guys. So, we kind of know what that’s about. But he seems great, honestly.”
He replaced you after Lamar took over.
“That’s right. Yeah, well, like Lamar was there and then he was the year… I think he was that next year, I think.”
Joe, how is it that the 40-year-old guy is the only quarterback in this competition that has not missed a snap, a drill, a rep because of soreness, injury or whatever?
“Hey, listen, I think, I mean, who knows why I’m the one guy, but I think the fact that I am 40 in here is just like I’ve been fortunate with my body. I’ve learned how to take care of it. I mean, there is part of me that wishes were doing three-hour practices because I could show that I could last through those too. It’s not that much of an accomplishment to kind of come out here and make it through a training camp, but I do feel like if were grinding three hours, two and a half hours every day, I could still go through that too. I wish I could show that a little bit. But hey, you know, I think some of it, a lot of it is taking care of your body and learning how to do that. You gain knowledge as you’re in the league. But also like you just, you know, throughout my football career I’ve had a couple injuries, but most of all I’ve been pretty fortunate on just what I’ve been given and the situations I’ve been given.”
So, Joe, one today and two next week. Is there a place you want to be or think this offense needs to be before you go out to Philly?
“Listen, you love to just come out here and go against teams and just gain confidence. You want to see guys, like, you want to be able to look in guys eyes after your rack and like see them be excited. So, I know that’s not like a specific goal or anything, but when guys start to get excited about like what we could be like, you can feel that. And that does matter. You know, good teams, they know how to win because they believe throughout the whole 60 minutes that they’re going to win. So, it would be really big if you could start to get some of that. And you can see the belief in guys.
How many joint practices did you do early on in your career?
“Not a lot. Not until like maybe my sixth year or something, seventh year. We practiced against San Fran, but early on we did not do a lot.”
So, this is the future of the league. Do you think it’s as productive as two-a-days?
“It’s interesting. I think I feel like before I came in the league, like there was a decent amount of it. I could be wrong in saying that and maybe it’s kind of…there wasn’t for a little bit. Listen, I think a lot of coaches have relationships with each other. It’s a nice way to break up camp. It’s a nice way to compete. It seems as though everybody’s doing it. Listen, I think there’s definitely some positives in it, but also like, it’s not all positive. You have to be willing to like take a travel day and another travel day and one of those teams has to be willing to do that. I think there was a time where you just wanted to go, go, go. So, you have to be able to manage that throughout camp. You can’t just say, ‘hey, we’re going to have joint practices and we’re going to miss a day here because we got to travel and we’re going to do this.’ I think, I think when you do it, you just have to be aware that you’re going to maybe miss out on a little bit of like actual field time. So, you got to make the most of it when you do have it and then you got to make the most of these practices when you do it.”
Joe, I saw in one interview where you were talking about how much you still want to start in this game? Can you kind of address that? You’re not here just padding the college fund. I mean, you’re going for it here.
“Yeah, listen, that’s why we play the game, right? You know, we play to play. That’s what gets us all going. You do get gained perspective. And when you go take that, just like I was talking about Tyler (Huntley), like when you’re out in the grass in practice, you can remind yourself, ‘wow, this is like, cool that we’re out here,’ but the end goal is to be the guy on the field playing the football games. That’s why we all do it. That’s as simple as it gets.”
What is the next step do you feel like as you go through next week in Philly, is there a specific thing you feel like is this has to be a point of emphasis or have to be clean this up? Anything in particular you feel like is the next step?
“I think we have our goals in, like, how we want to play the game. They’re not necessarily like hurdles to get over, but they’re standards that we hold ourselves to. And I think when you go and you practice against other teams, when you practice against yourself, you have to hold yourself to those standards. And the more that guys start to do that and you feed off each other, the more you start to see results. When you’re going in these practices, yeah, I guess you could set certain goals, but those things are hard, like, to get like an actual measurable thing until you start playing football games and tackling for real. Even when we go from thud to live in our practices versus ourselves, there’s a difference. So, we just have to make sure we’re holding ourselves to the standards that we’ve outlined and we can all see every single day. I think as long as we’re doing that, then we’re moving in the right direction.”
Joe, with Kenny (Pickett) being a little bit banged up now and Dillon (Gabriel) being a little bit banged up, I mean, can you start to see the vision? Can you start to feel like maybe you’re going to be the guy?
“Listen, I’m not trying to look into that too much. I can say that when you get a little bit – it’s still not like, ‘okay, I went from three reps here, three reps there to a little bit more.’ Not like a ton more, but a little bit more. And in just that little bit, you know, you can start to feel like yourself, get in the groove and you calm down a little bit. It’s just human nature. Like, when you’re getting two reps, three reps to like, ‘oh, this has to be perfect.’ And when you feel that way, you’re not going to be as good. So, to be able to, like, relax a little bit, let it loose and like, get a little bit more, it just feels right, you know what I mean? So I’m not going to look into what it means, but it definitely feels good to be out there.”
Is it difficult not to rush that process? I mean, I know Kevin (Stefanski) and Tommy (Rees) have talked about process driven. You talk sort of about being process driven. How difficult is it not to rush, not to kind of get out over your skis and try to rush?
“I’m not worried one bit, man. I’m just out here enjoying it and doing the best I can every single day, trying to show these guys that, man, I can do it. You should have confidence in me. When I talk to my wife at night, you know, maybe she’s not as patient. But listen, I’m having a lot of fun just going out there and slamming it around a practice right now, and I’m doing a good job just kind of keeping my feet where they are, and that’s all I can do right now.”
When the guys see that, when they see a veteran like you, do you think that it helps them to also kind of take their feet off that pedal?
“I hope so. I do think, yeah, like, no matter – I don’t care if you’re a veteran or not, but when you have guys on your team that remind other guys just by what the way they do it, that, man, this is just a game, like, take this weight off my shoulders and let’s go play. That’s going to help everybody play to their best ability. And I hope I can do that.”
How have you seen Dillon (Gabriel) and Kenny (Pickett), as they’ve both been dealing with injuries and you talk about the importance of those reps, but how have you seen them kind of handle that part of it as they’re not able to be in every team drill?
“Yeah, listen, they’re great. I mean, they’ve been doing a great job. I mean, you can tell, like, with Kenny, he’s been out like the last week, you can tell, like, you can just see it on his face. He’s itching to get back out there. And, you know, they’ve all been great in the meeting room, very attentive and asking questions and, you know, it’s been a great room so far.”
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