CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns fans will once again have a chance to go Whacko for Flacco.
Kevin Stefanski on Monday named Joe Flacco his Week 1 starter against the Bengals Sept. 7 at Huntington Bank Field.
If all goes well, Flacco will play well enough to lead the Browns to the playoffs like he did that magical season of 2023 when he went 4-1 down the stretch, lighting up the scoreboard with Amari Cooper and others.
Flacco, 40, beat out the other three challengers for the job: veteran Kenny Pickett, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Of the four QBs, Flacco was the only one in training camp not to miss a snap or a practice because of injury. Pickett bowed out of the competition for all intents and purposes when he suffered a hamstring injury on July 26, and Gabriel exited stage left when he suffered a hamstring injury of his own on Aug. 2. Sanders suffered a left oblique strain during last week’s first joint practice against the Eagles, leaving Flacco as the last man standing in the War of Attrition in the quarterback room.
But Flacco certainly didn’t win the job just because of injuries. Flacco has once again instilled confidence in his teammates, and has led the team in camp like the 18-year veteran and former Super Bowl MVP that he is.
“We’ve seen Joe over the course of his career, we certainly saw it in 2023, the style of play that Joe, really has been his calling card his file life,” Stefanski last week on the Browns’ in-house special Man Under Center. “He’s a pocket passer that can make every throw from the pocket. He’s a better athlete than you think.
“Being on different teams and being in different locker rooms and winning a Super Bowl, those types of experiences are invaluable and he shares those experiences with the football team quite a bit.”
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has been impressed with his 6-6, cannon-armed passer.
“Joe cool is calm, cool and collected out there,” Rees said. “He gives everybody around him a tremendous amount of confidence just the way he operates the huddle, he commands it, his overall operation and the way he brings out the best in everybody around him is really a benefit for the offense.”
Quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave has appreciated the way Flacco has led the team through a training camp full of quarterback injuries, and the absence all camp of their workhorse running back in Quinshon Judkins.
“His strength is his experience,” Musgrave said. “He’s seen a lot of football. and we don’t need to make a lot of corrections with joe, we just want to put him in position where he can really feature his dominant traits. He can see over the line. At times he can even throw the ball over defenders if they happen to be in front of some of our targets.”
Browns Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio spoke for so many of his teammates when. he described their confidence in Flacco.
“We have faith in the room and the coaches’ decisions, but we’ve been around Joe and he’s done a great job for us, led us to the playoffs a couple of years ago,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “So we have all the faith in him. Obviously we hope all our quarterbacks aren’t banged up, kind of how it is right now. But I think he’s shown that he can lead this team and his poise and his confidence in the huddle is what you’d expect from an 18-year vet. We have all the confidence in the world in whoever they put out there, but Joe’s obviously been the healthiest guy and kind of our option right now.”
This post will be updated.
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