Just a few weeks after feeling unwanted by the NFL, Joe Flacco got a major vote of confidence from the Cleveland Browns.
Following an impressive performance in Cleveland’s 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Browns (8-5) named Flacco their starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The 38-year-old former Super Bowl MVP had to wait until late last month to land with a team, but now he has his coach and new teammates singing his praises.
“Played well,” Browns Coach Kevin Stefanski said. “You expect him to get better as he gets more comfortable in our system with our players, those type of things. But we just talked about him and all of our guys doing their job, giving us their best, and I thought that’s what he did.”
Asked about a fourth-and-three play in the fourth quarter in which Flacco evaded pressure and found wide receiver David Bell for a 41-yard touchdown, Stefanski said: “That was outstanding. Unbelievable play by the quarterback.”
“Obviously, it feels good when it looks like people have confidence in you,” Flacco told reporters after the game, which brought his second straight start. “I’ve been in a bunch of locker rooms, but whenever you walk into a locker room, you still want to gain the respect of everybody, and you don’t know if you quite have that until you can go out there and get a win and continue to do it day in and day out. You try to carry yourself the right way and you try to do all the right things, but that doesn’t guarantee anything in terms of going out in the field on Sunday, so it feels awesome to go out there and get the win.”
After 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco had been with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos over the past four years. Having moved into the journeyman phase of his career, he drew little interest from the NFL this spring, summer and well into the fall. It wasn’t until after Browns starter Deshaun Watson had season-ending shoulder surgery last month that Flacco was invited to join the practice squad.
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“I think it’s a little scary to not sign somewhere in the offseason and not be at training camp somewhere. … It wasn’t like I turned anybody down in the offseason,” Flacco said Sunday. “I was starting to think that I wasn’t [going to get a call].”
“Life puts you in certain situations and you don’t know why,” he added. “You’ve just got to make the most of it.”
Cleveland initially replaced Watson with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but the fifth-round draft pick struggled to put points on the board before suffering a concussion in a Week 12 loss to the Broncos. Fourth-year veteran PJ Walker finished that game after making two starts earlier in the season, but he was bypassed in favor of Flacco for a Week 13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Walker was waived Saturday, and Thompson-Robinson mostly stayed glued to the sideline Sunday as Flacco threw for 311 yards, three touchdowns and a 92.0 passer rating, with a second-quarter interception.
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“Other than one play, he was fantastic,” said Myles Garrett, Cleveland’s standout defensive end. “We can expect that. No one’s going to be perfect, and he’s just picking up things as he goes, but the man was sharp. He made the plays that he needed to make. The guy’s doing it all, and he’s giving his all for this team. I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”
Flacco said he was “aware” that a victory Sunday would be his 100th as an NFL starter, and he noted that his years in the league — and in life — added layers to the milestone.
“It’s really a unique experience,” he told reporters, “to have children who are of the age that they understand what’s going on, and I’m going to remember these things forever. I’m just trying to stay in the moment and be as grateful as possible.”
Speaking to CBS after the win, Flacco added: “So many times there where I was just feeling like a 10-year-old kid again. To be able to do that — you just can’t let it be lost on you how special it is to play this game.”
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