QB Joe Flacco (9.7.25)
I know you’ve been through a million of these, but how do you process a game that felt like you guys had really good chances?
“Yeah, it’s tough. I felt like we did a lot of good things, but we also did a lot of things that get you beat. You know, we just kind of felt we kind of played like an inexperienced team a little bit today. Like I said, we did so many good things. We were able to move the ball, and then just ultimately come up short. It definitely hurts to feel like you could start the season 1-0 and not do that.”
Can you talk about the fact that, I know you really trust Jerry (Jeudy), I know you really trust Ced (Tillman) and nine times out of ten that they’re going to make those plays?
“Yeah, listen, it’s football. You know, I’m wishing that I had the ball a little bit better and, maybe I’m wishing I just threw it on his chest as opposed to doing what I did. And I think we’re all looking at those plays and probably thinking about them and just like, you know, we’re going to have to go home tonight and try to fall asleep with those things on our thoughts, and it’s hard. Listen, when you lose football games, that’s what happens. You’re going to have plays where you look back on and think about and, those guys, they played a really strong game for us today. Like I said, I think when you look at this film, you’re going to see a lot of guys that did a lot of really good things. We just had some MA’s (missed assignments) that really, really bit us.”
How do you feel about just the overall offensive operation for the first game?
“Pretty good. You know, I feel like we had a lot in, and I feel like we handled it for the most part. But at the same time, you could tell that we were young. I mean, there was times where we probably didn’t have a ton of time on the play clock and we were moving around a little bit. So yeah, we got to get used to being able to do some of those things and not let it kind of slow us down that half a step or whatever it may be, but we did a lot of good things with that as well. I think they tried to throw a lot on our plate, and I ultimately think we did a decent job of handling it. But at the same time, you look at those few plays that got us.”
Joe, what did you see from Dylan Sampson, and how he was able to make plays?
“Yeah, I thought he looked really good. I mean, when you get him the ball in a little bit of space, the first guy wasn’t making the tackle. And I think the amount that actually keeps you on the field, it keeps those chains moving, wears the defense out that extra a little bit. Makes sure they’re running to the ball. I think that was the key today for him, is just making that first guy miss. And I think he did that a lot.”
You’re heading into Baltimore next week. How do you feel about that? Obviously you’re going back to Baltimore. It’s going to be really emotional, but do you feel maybe a little bit better about this offense, knowing what you guys went out and did today? If we just eliminate those couple of mistakes, like, maybe you guys can be better than people think.
“I think there’s definitely, listen, I mean, you can’t listen to the outside noise. We’ve been trying to build something all off season. There’s definitely things that we’re going to be able to look at and build off of for sure and say, man, like, look how well we did that. We just can’t let the things that were negative affect you. You know, like this league can be harsh when you don’t win, and it can come down on you hard. But at the same time, it is week-to-week. You go out there and you play the way you know how to play the next week, then that last week is forgotten about and you’re feeling really good. You know, we’re in here, if we’re in the locker room in Baltimore at 1 pm next week and we won the game, we’re going to be feeling really damn good. So, it’s just that balance of like trying to take the confidence from the things that we did do well and the things that we didn’t do well, those things seem to stick around and kind of invade your mind a little bit easier than the good things. So, it’s a matter of just not letting that happen.”
Joe, you’ve been around the league a long time and seen a lot of football. What do you say to a guy like Andre (Szmyt), who is probably feeling the world on his shoulders right now?
“Who’d you say there?”
Andre.
“Yeah hey, I think the problem is that you forget this is a team sport sometimes, because there’s such a spotlight on you because of certain points in the game and what happened. And what you’ve got to remember is that we’ve all been in a situation where we’ve all made mistakes before that have been a big part of costing us a football game. You got to shake it. It’s not just on you. It’s a team sport. We’re all going to be in there and rally together. Nobody wants to be in that situation and not come up for your team. But we’ve all been there and can understand not doing it. I think if you’re able to kind of take that in, then you can use it to make you better in the future. So hopefully that’s, we can help him do with it.”
How impressed are you by what your defense is able to do after that first drive?
“Yeah, man, I mean you could, you start to feel it at the end of that third quarter there, like, oh man, they’re not really going to let these guys do too much. It just honestly, like in the beginning of the week we talked about the AFC North and like the types of games that you play, and it was a similar game that you always play in this division. It wasn’t a ton of scoring. There was some early on, but our defense played a really good game in a very winnable game. You know, they let up two drives maybe in those first two drives and that was it. And they played lights out after that. So, you know, I think we could all feel that. I think on offense, we were ready, and I think we were confident too. I think we did feel confidence in going out there and putting points on the board, and we just weren’t able to make it happen.”
Joe, when you guys had the missed extra point, it’s a long game and you’re playing with a pretty young football team, there’s a lot of young guys on this football team. What is your role in making sure that they understand after that, “Let’s go get this.” Do you have to be verbalizing that with a lot of these young guys or what?
“No, listen, like, you know, I think you can say little things here and there, but once you take that field, you’re worried about the task at hand. And I honestly don’t think like these games are so long and plays happen here and there all the time. You know, most guys don’t blink in those situations. They understand what our goal is as an offense and it doesn’t change just because of something that happens here and there throughout the course of a game. It’s a 60-minute football game and you know, the task at hand is always kind of the same once you take that field. I thought we did a pretty good job of kind of focusing on that today, we just weren’t able to execute quite as well.”
Did you go into thinking it was going to be a game where you would need to put together 12-play drives? I think all three scoring drives were real long.
“No. You put your game plan together to go put points on the board and you’re aware of how games can turn out and all the different things that you might have to do. I mean, our first series, I think was 20 plays or something like that. You know, I don’t know. We haven’t ran that many. You know, we’re running 10 more plays than that in practice. You know, so to do 20 plays straight and kind of, you know, be able to still go out there and operate the same way, I don’t think you’re ever planning on, “Hey, in order to win this game, we’re going to have have a couple 12-play drives.” If you’re planning on that, you’re usually not going to win the game because it’s so hard to maintain that many, you know, long drives and actually score as much as you want.”
Do you feel like when you have more time with these receivers and they know every single week that you’re the guy they’re taking care of, do you feel like now the chemistry, the camaraderie will come because obviously, you didn’t have as much as ideally you would’ve liked to?
“For sure, yeah. There’s some things that we can be better. And I think obviously the more time you spend together doing things and the more confidence you get from doing things well, then we’re all going to be doing a little bit better. That’s my job. That’s part of my job this week, and we talked about it earlier, is making sure that we get motivated from the things that we didn’t do well and do that by looking at the things that we did do well and kind of getting it in the right mindset to come out and do it next week. There is a lot of pressure in this league. You know, you feel like everybody’s looking at you. I don’t necessarily think that’s the reality. So we just got to make sure that nobody kind of falls into that trap. We got a lot of good football players, a lot of guys that did a lot of good stuff, and we didn’t do some stuff that well, that happens. We got to be able to overcome that and be strong mentally. If we want to be the team that we think we can be, then little things like this, like they’re good tests. We’re going to have to be able to overcome things like this at some point. So it might as well happen now and let’s face it head on and see who we are.”
Joe, I apologize if you were asked this but as a captain and senior member of this team. Did you say anything to (Andre) Szmyt after this game?
“Listen, we’ll run into each other in the locker room, and we talked about it a little bit. I think when you’re in these situations, you think all eyes are on you. And the thing you got to remember is this is a team game. It’s the ultimate team game. It’s so cliche to say that, but it is. We’re all in there. We’ve all been in that situation. If you’ve played this game long enough and you love this game, we’ve all been in that situation where you, you know, don’t perform exactly the way you want to for your team. I know how that feels. And I can look at every guy in that locker room and they know how that feels. We’re in it together. You know, I think it is a hard thing when you don’t do things as well as you want to. You do think your teammates are, like, looking at you saying, man, if Joe just would have done this, we would, you know, what the hell was he doing? It’s hard to not think that way. So at some point this week, yes, I’ll be in the office throwing darts with him and look him in the eye and make sure that I can give him the confidence to go out there and do his job. Because we’ve all done it. And it’s probably not if he has the, if he’s the player he wants to be that he thinks he is and he wants to be. This isn’t going to be the last time that he’s going have to deal with something like this. You know, when you play as much football as you want to play, if you’re able to do that, then you’re going to have to deal with these things every now and then. So he, you know, he’s got to keep his head up and just continue to go out there and do what he’s doing.”
How about the fact that Quinshon (Judkins) could be back on the field as soon as, maybe even next week. What kind of, how much encouragement does that give you about this run game and this offense?
“I think it’s exciting for him. I mean, we got to see him a little bit in the spring, and he, you know, he looked like a hell of a ball carrier. So, you know, listen I think all the pieces, you know, we’re going to need all the pieces at some point, and different guys are going to need to step up at different points in the season. I think he’s a big part of what this football team could be, so it’s good to have him back. And, you know, I’m excited for him to kind of get in there and feel like he can be part of the team again.”
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