It was Week 1 of the 2008 NFL season, and the Baltimore Ravens were hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7. New Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco scored his first NFL touchdown on a 38-yard scamper with 15 seconds left in the third quarter. A little over 15 clock minutes later, he scored his first NFL victory.
Baltimore beat Cincinnati 17-10 that day and Flacco had two weeks to enjoy it, as they had the rare Week 2 Bye Week that season.
Now, fast forward 18 seasons. The 40-year-old Flacco is once again prepping to play the Cincinnati Bengals to open the season on Sept. 7, but it’s unlikely he’ll post another 38-yard scoring run. And he’s ok with that.
Flacco was named the starter in the offseason by coach Kevin Stefanski, beating out fellow veteran Kenny Pickett and two rookie draft picks, third-rounder Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders. Pickett has since been traded to Las Vegas to back up Geno Smith, so Flacco remains the only quarterback in the room with any NFL experience. And he has plenty.
But the offseason and preseason always bring new experiences for Flacco, no matter how long you’re in the game.
“I think no matter how long you’ve been in it, how many games you’ve played, they all feel pretty similar,” Flacco said. “We’re excited to get going. Anytime you haven’t been at it for, 6-7 months, you’re excited to get out there and get going and see what the team is going to be made of.”
Flacco will have his work cut out for him too, as the Bengals finally came to terms on a one-year deal with star pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, who’s coming off a 17.5-sack season. Flacco knows he’ll have to pay attention in the pocket.
“These division games, they can be tough and they’re going to be a battle till the end, so you just got to make sure you’re ready to go,” Flacco said. “I think the way we prepare this week will kind of tell us a lot about ourselves.”
“Joe’s done a nice job,” Stefanski said. “I would go back to how we structured the offseason, how we structured training camp, named him the starter going into that Rams week, and he’s gotten all of the work since then with those ones to sharpen up his game, get comfortable with the guys around him. So, he’s done a really nice job to date.”
0 Comments