Joe Flacco Speaks With The Cleveland Media For The First Time
Ahead of Browns Practice newly signed Veteran QB Joe Flacco talks with Cleveland reporters for the first time after signing with the team.
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00:00 Joe, how you doing? Good, how are you? Do you think you'd be doing one of these again after
00:05 last season ended? Well, I kind of figured I probably would be the way last season ended,
00:13 but as I sat at home for most of this year, I was probably beginning to lose a little
00:18 bit of faith in that. What brought you out and brought you here to Cleveland? Well, listen,
00:25 I got a call from my agent and they asked to come work out and I said, "All right, I'm
00:28 going to come work out." They said, "All right, this is what we're going to do." I just kind
00:33 of nodded my head along the whole way and next thing you know, I'm here. Joe, what do
00:37 you see as your role here now that you're here? I haven't really looked that much into
00:42 it. I want to take it day by day. Listen, I'm a veteran guy that's been around a lot
00:48 at this point in the season with a team that's doing well, so I think there's a lot of different
00:52 things that I can bring to the table. I honestly just want to keep it day to day and focus
00:57 on what I can. Right now, that's just kind of learning the offense and becoming a part
01:00 of the team. What do you think you've got left? Well, listen, I think when you start
01:08 talking about that, you can talk until you're blue in the face and try to promote yourself
01:12 or not or whatever it is. However this ends up playing out, I think you can look back
01:20 at the way I finished the last game of the season last year. Not that we were able to
01:24 win that game, but I definitely believe I can still play. Like I said, I'm focused on
01:30 the day to day. As long as I can do that, then whatever happens, I think that whatever
01:35 my role ends up being and wherever this takes me, then I'll do my best at that.
01:39 Joe, do you try to put DTR Dorian at ease knowing that he's got a Super Bowl winning
01:44 quarterback behind him with all this experience that could potentially take his job?
01:48 I think he's got, you know, I've been there as a rookie and you've got so much going through
01:52 your head and you're worrying about little things. I'm talking about focusing on the
01:56 daily grind and I think there's little things throughout the day that he's probably so focused
02:00 on too that the rest of it becomes kind of nonsense. If you're able to just focus on
02:05 that little thing that you're doing at that time, then that's the best way you can kind
02:09 of keep focus and keep the task at hand, you know, the most important. And it looks like
02:13 he's doing that.
02:14 Joe, after all these years of facing the Cleveland Browns and, you know, we, many of us were
02:19 prepared for all those games. How weird is it for you to be standing in front of Orange
02:23 footballs right now and wearing a Cleveland Browns sweatshirt?
02:26 Yeah, I think it would probably be a little bit different if I was, you know, coming here
02:30 four or five years ago. But, you know, having bounced around a few spots now, it's probably
02:36 not quite as different. You know, teams change so much from year to year in this league.
02:42 Players change, organizations change. So when you look back on it, it's really, you know,
02:49 they're so separate that there's probably a little bit of strangeness to it. But overall,
02:53 like I said, you kind of come in here and you focus on meeting the new guys that are
02:56 on your team. And it just feels like football. And that's the most important thing.
03:01 Joe, I remember covering a game to Baltimore. I think your wife was expecting that day.
03:06 That day. Yeah.
03:07 And you went right after the game.
03:08 Yeah. Yeah.
03:09 That child, how old is it?
03:10 He's ten years old. He's in fourth grade. She had him at 11.32. Thank God she had him
03:18 before the game. I didn't think it would affect me that much, to be honest with you. And I
03:22 paced around that locker room until it happened. Definitely a good thing that it happened before
03:26 one o'clock.
03:27 Joe, I know you're looking for an opportunity, and this is the one that came about for you.
03:31 But what have you gotten to know and appreciate about Coach Stapanski, Alex Van Felt, and
03:36 the rest of the staff that made this a comfortable spot for you?
03:38 Yeah, it's funny. I mean, even before I came and worked out out here, Gary Kubiak gave
03:44 me a call and just had a lot of praise for these guys. And I trust Gary's word. I was
03:51 only with him one year, but very honest man. And so what he says goes. And definitely had
03:58 a lot of good things to say about it. So I've seen that so far.
04:00 What was the part of you, Joe, that you didn't have? You weren't on a team until this late
04:05 in the season.
04:06 Well, I think I have a lot of pride in myself. And I think, yeah, I think very surprised,
04:13 at least early on and throughout the course of the offseason. But as the season kind of
04:17 goes along, I think the surprise turns into other things. And you're not necessarily surprised
04:22 anymore. And listen, I think also, this is the 16th year in a locker room. You've seen
04:30 a million things. So to be super surprised by something, you probably don't have your
04:36 head in the right spot. You shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point.
04:39 After the Browns, you agreed to come here. Then Joe Burrow goes down. Just wondering,
04:46 did you start to have any other phone calls or anything like that?
04:49 No, you don't even think about that stuff. You make a decision and you feel good about
04:54 it. And really, my decision was just some kind of opportunity. And I know I still want
05:00 to play football. And anything close to being put in the locker room and given that opportunity,
05:06 all the other things kind of go out the window at that point. You don't really look back.
05:10 What are you doing to stay? Work it out to stay in shape and get your dig in college?
05:15 Of course. Yeah, listen, I mean, working out so much part of my life now, you know, and
05:19 throwing the football so much fun. Now, listen, I mean, I haven't really been able to throw
05:23 to like top speed targets, but I've been able to keep my arm in shape. And, you know, that
05:29 stuff will come when you get out there and get with these guys.
05:31 Do you think the way that you played against them last year had any factor in them pursuing
05:35 you for this position? Who knows? Who knows? I guess it doesn't hurt to go play well when
05:42 you do have an opportunity to, but you never know how that's going to affect the future.
05:50 You have to ask them what they wanted to see. But I, you know, I was I was excited to do
05:56 it. I've never been through a workout until since I came out of Delaware. So I was excited
06:00 to get in there and do it. And I got to tell you, you want to go impress. So you feel a
06:05 little bit of something when you're going out there and working out like I'm sure everybody
06:09 does. But it was cool and it was a good workout.
06:13 Joe, seven and three obviously speaks for itself in a lot of ways. But what are your
06:17 impressions of the team and what do you think it's capable of?
06:21 They seem like a very close, you know, close group. And, you know, when you're sitting
06:25 back back at home on Sundays and you can watch all the games and, you know, these AFC North
06:30 games always tend to be good. So the Browns, you know, they were probably on the TV screen
06:35 a lot. And, you know, they've obviously really put these guys have obviously really put it
06:40 together on defense. They've run the ball consistently all year, even with losing out
06:46 on, you know, best back in the league with Chubb. So it's been impressive to watch them
06:51 kind of just continue to fight. And, you know, when you're here in the locker room, you hear
06:56 about how close the team is from some of the guys that I know and you can see it right
06:59 away.
07:00 So as your 10 year old, was he a Ravens fan and is he now ready to switch allegiances
07:05 and become a Browns fan?
07:07 Oh, my gosh. You know, those guys were so young when I was in Baltimore. They're at
07:13 an awesome age now to like really love football. And they do. They like guys from all over
07:17 the league, mostly receivers. And they love it. But yeah, my second hit my 10 year old,
07:25 probably all of them to a certain extent, but him especially, his Christmas list has
07:29 like 50 Browns things on it almost instantly.
07:33 Three boys?
07:34 Four boys and a girl.
07:35 Were they your most beat targets while you were there?
07:38 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was using a small ball in the front yard when throwing to those guys.
07:43 So maybe not the best thing.
07:44 What's the oldest and youngest age?
07:45 My oldest is 11. My youngest is five.
07:46 You did a really accomplished career.
07:47 Right outside of Philly, South Jersey.
07:48 You've accomplished a lot in your career. You've thrown for 40,000 yards.
07:49 You won the Super Bowl. Why do you still want to play?
07:59 I mean, to a certain extent, it's all I know. I still have a lot of fun doing it. I still
08:03 I do feel like I have stuff left in the tank. So I owe it to myself to continue to push
08:08 forward and try to play the game that I love. You know, until I really don't feel like I
08:13 can do it anymore.
08:14 Do you have any memories of the 31-30 victory over the Browns last year?
08:23 Yeah. You know, there's a ton of memories to rank that one. I don't know where it would
08:29 rank, but in terms of just how crazy it was and how unlikely, it was probably the craziest
08:34 game that I've been a part of in the finish. The locker room after that game, sorry, guys.
08:39 I mean, it was another level, but you know, it was week two. You know, I think these guys
08:45 have a lot more to, you know, we have a lot more to play for at this point in the season.
08:50 Ten weeks in, seven and three. So this is when it really gets exciting.
08:53 I know a number of these guys, Nick Foles comes to mind, who got in there just at the
08:59 right time to lead his team to the Super Bowl. Does that cross your mind?
09:06 I'm sure it's crossed my family's mind. I mean, in my case, like I said, you really
09:11 have to focus on the daily part of it and taking it day by day. And five, six days ago,
09:17 that was coming out here and making sure that I could have the best workout that I've had.
09:21 And, you know, now it's coming in here and grinding away and trying to learn the
09:25 offense and listening to everything during the walkthroughs and also becoming part of
09:29 the team. Prove that I, you know, prove that I belong to be, you know, to be on the team.
09:34 Go out to practice today. And when I throw the ball, you know, make sure people see
09:37 that I can still do it. And I mean my teammates. You know, you want to be a part of
09:44 the locker room for real. And I think that's the number one goal when you first come
09:47 onto the team.
09:48 How long does it take you to learn the offense?
09:52 It depends. I mean, there is some familiarity with some of the verbiage that Kevin has
09:57 and things like that. So it makes certain parts of it a little bit easier. And then,
10:01 you know, as you look at the whole offense and then you kind of pare it down to a
10:05 game plan, that makes it a little bit easier also. So you can kind of like take whole
10:09 and then break it down into a part. And, you know, you can get it pretty quickly.
10:13 Those Ravens teams you were part of, they won a lot of games. You know, they were
10:18 good in the clutch and, you know, in the late game situations. What goes in the
10:23 mindset of a team that makes them, you know, that helps them succeed in those moments?
10:30 You look back on those teams and, you know, I think playing in this division and just
10:37 we always had a lot of tight games and we lost some of them and we won some of them.
10:41 But, I mean, listen, so many good games. You try to tell people when I played against
10:47 the Cleveland Browns, like they went when there weren't a ton of wins here every
10:51 year. There was a ton of really good games. And when you get used to playing close
10:56 games in the fourth quarter where you're not just blowing people out, it really
11:00 lends itself well to play in playoff football because you know you're going to face
11:04 good defenses and good offenses. And, you know, sometimes throughout the year you
11:07 can kind of just go out there and beat up on a team and you win 35 to 15. And, you
11:12 know, what are you getting out of that besides kind of getting your confidence going
11:16 and everything like that? But when you can play tight games consistently and when
11:20 you can, you know, when things are muddy, kind of like last year, last week against
11:24 the Steelers, you know, you know you're not going to have clean games against those
11:27 guys no matter how you may feel you should do. I think those things all kind of help
11:31 your mental part of it and the resilience of the team come late in the season.
11:35 How glad are you that you are on the same team as Miles Garrett now as opposed to
11:41 having to worry about him?
11:42 Yeah, you know, I've always, you've lined up across from him and now I get to see
11:45 him in person. They always look a little bit more inviting and friendly when
11:48 they're not in their uniform and helmet and shoulder pads. But, yeah, he's a
11:53 monster and he's had a hell of a year so definitely good to be on the same side as
11:56 him.
11:57 Thanks, guys.