With the loss of quarterback Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season, the Cleveland Browns knew they needed to add another veteran to the quarterback room. They need to raise the basement of that room and needed to upgrade from P.J. Walker who showed he isn’t a consistently good player. That’s why they went out and added long-time Baltimore Raven Joe Flacco to their practice squad this week.
Though the team hopes that Dorian Thompson-Robinson can continue to grow as a player, they also know there’s a chance that won’t happen. You can’t put all of your eggs in a rookie fifth-round pick’s basket with the championship-caliber defense. There has to be a backup plan. Flacco has seen a lot of football having been a Super Bowl MVP during his time with the Baltimore Ravens.
It was weird to see Flacco in Browns gear after how much time he spent with the Ravens. It was an interesting press conference as Flacco made it clear that he thinks he still can give the Browns something at his current age.
Flacco still believes he can play well
“Not that were able to win that game, but I definitely believe I can still play. And like I said, I’m focused on the day-to-day. And as long as I can do that, then whatever happens, I think that whatever my role ends up being, and wherever this takes me, then I’ll do my best at that.”
It feels like Flacco believes his role is to help and support the rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who will start against the Denver Broncos, first and foremost. However, he believes if the team needs to turn to him on the field that he can get it done. He seemed enthusiastic to be walking into the situation he is walking into in Cleveland and what he thinks this team can accomplish.
Respect for Browns coaching staff helped Flacco decide to join Cleveland's roster
“Yeah, it’s funny. I mean, even before I came and worked out here, Gary Kubiak gave me a call and just had a lot of praise for these guys. And I trust Gary’s word. I was only with him one year, but very honest man, and so what he says goes and definitely had a lot of good things to say about it. So, I’ve seen that so far.”
Kevin Stefanski and the rest of his offensive coaching staff are respected around the NFL world. Kubiak worked closely with Stefanski in Minnesota so he knows what he is talking about with his praise of Stefanski. Having the respect of a mind like Kubiak isn’t something to turn your nose up at and Flacco believes in this group.
Another player confirms the Browns players are close knit
“They seem like a very close group and when you’re sitting back at home on Sundays and you can watch all the games and these AFC North games always tend to be good. So the Browns, you know, they were probably on the TV screen a lot. These guys have obviously really put it together on defense. They’ve run the ball consistently all year, even with losing out on the best back in the league with (Nick) Chubb. So it’s been impressive to watch them kind of just continue to fight. And when you’re here in the locker room, you hear about how close the team is from some of the guys that I know and you can see it right away.”
It has been fun to watch this group who love to play with and for each other week after week. One that continues to stick in my mind is Jim Schwartz talking about how he wants his players to celebrate big players with their teammates or they will be made fun of. This team believes in themselves and the feelings are contagious that the culture in Cleveland is truly shifting.
