The Bengals traded for Joe Flacco earlier this year because they needed someone to handle their quarterback duties with Joe Burrow out of the lineup, but Burrow’s return to practice this week has started the countdown to the end of his run in Cincinnati.
Burrow said that he is targeting [a return to the lineup](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/joe-burrow-i-knew-toe-injury-was-bad-when-it-happened) on or around Thanksgiving and that possibility was the subject of questions for Flacco on Wednesday. Flacco said that he has “a job to do and I’m focused on doing that job” while adding that Burrow’s potential return has never been something that he’s thought about since joining the team.
“I think that was the last thing that [was on my mind](https://www.bengals.com/news/joe-flacco-s-18-years-have-never-seen-coverages-like-this-ja-marr-chase-tee-higgins). I was like, ‘All right, I’m playing this week, let’s go.’ And then just going from there,” Flacco said, via the team’s website. “I’m honestly not really thinking about it. It’s not really a part of my process. I really don’t care. It’s this week and that’s all that matters. I think to think about that stuff would be a distraction.”
The Bengals have two games before a Thanksgiving date with the Ravens and beating the Steelers this week would do a lot to keeping the door open or a run at the AFC North title in the final weeks of the season. That should provide plenty of motivation, even if Flacco might not be the guy running the offense once the Bengals hit that part of their schedule.