Joe Flacco in a Browns uniform symbolizes the bizarreness of this football season
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
The sheer bizarreness of this Browns season knows no bounds.
On Wednesday, Joe Flacco addressed the media wearing a Browns sweatshirt. I mean, Joe Flacco – the cold-as-ice QB who beat the Browns 17 of 20 times with the Baltimore Ravens and then added a final dagger to them with the Jets in 2022.
Flacco threw four touchdowns against the Browns in Game 2 last year, including two in the final 1 minute, 22 seconds, to complete one of the most gut-wrenching finishes, even by Browns standards, in an unbelievable 31-30 Jets win. It was the last time Flacco tasted victory as the quarterback of record.
“It was probably the craziest game that I've been a part of, the finish,” he said. “The locker room after that game -- sorry, guys -- I mean, it was another level. But it was week two. I think these guys have a lot more to play for at this point in the season. Ten weeks in at 7-3. So, this is when it really gets exciting.”
Flacco made only two other starts for the Jets after that win in Cleveland. Both were losses -- 27-12 to the Bengals, and 11-6 to the Dolphins in the season finale.
Since then, the Jets turned over their franchise to Aaron Rodgers and Flacco retreated to his home in New Jersey across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, working out and tossing small footballs to his four sons, aged 11 to 5, and a daughter. No NFL team called him until the Browns last week when they learned Deshaun Watson needed season-ending shoulder surgery.
So why would Flacco, at 38, his beard speckled with gray -- with 99 career regular-season wins in 15 NFL seasons, over 42,000 yards passing, not to mention one Super Bowl MVP award and the 13th $100 million contract in NFL history in 2013 – answer the Browns’ siren call to work out and agree to a practice squad contract?
“To a certain extent, it's all I know,” Flacco said. “I still have a lot of fun doing it. I do feel like I have stuff left in the tank, so I owe it to myself to continue to push forward and try to play the game that I love until I really don't feel like I can do it anymore.”
The Browns' current QB room is vastly different from the one that gathered in the Greenbrier at the start of training camp in July. (TheLandOnDemand)
How strange it was to see the Browns’ current threesome of quarterbacks practicing on the field in Week 12 – Dorian Thompson-Robinson with the first team, P.J. Walker with the second team, and Flacco, in his first Browns practice with the third team.
When the team gathered for the first time beneath the Allegheny Mountains at the Greenbrier in July, the quarterbacks were Watson, Josh Dobbs, Kellen Mond and DTR.
And to think the Browns are 7-3, nonetheless.
No pressure
Kevin Stefanski on Monday stated that DTR would be the starter in Denver. The coach would not commit to who’s No. 2 – Walker or Flacco.
“We'll worry about all the roster stuff throughout the week,” he said.
It seems inevitable that Flacco, given his resume and also given the bizarre nature of this Browns season, would see action in a game. It’s possible he could be the fourth QB to register a win this year for the Browns considering there are seven games left.
Stefanski said, “He's a pro. He just has to be a great teammate and that's what he's done. And part of being a great teammate is showing up and doing your job. I think about all the guys we've had over the years, veterans that provide great leadership without having to say much. We have guys on our roster now that do that. So Joe's just going to be himself in his own unique and authentic way and help this football team by the way he prepares.”
One thing is certain: Flacco won’t call rank on DTR and press him in any way. He didn’t do that when Lamar Jackson was a rookie in Baltimore or when Zach Wilson was a rookie with the Jets.
“I've been there as a rookie,” Flacco said of DTR. “And you got so much going through your head, and you're worrying about little things, and I'm talking about focusing on the daily grind, and I think there's little things throughout the day that he's probably so focused on, too, that the rest of it becomes kind of nonsense. And if you're able to just focus on that little thing that you're doing at that time, then that's the best way you can kind of keep focus and keep the task at hand. The most important. And it looks like he's doing that.”
As for Thompson-Robinson, he seems comforted by the presence of Flacco – not intimidated or pressed.
“It's awesome … it's awesome,” he said. “Anytime you can add experience, which is something as a rookie you need, it's a great thing. So him, P.J. [Walker], AVP [Alex Van Pelt], Ashton [Grant, assistant quarterback coach], everybody in the quarterback room. They're helping me out a ton. He just got here. He's still learning his way around the city, so I'm trying to help him out with that. But he's definitely helped me out on the football and other things.”
He said he feels no pressure to keep the starting job.
“Shoot, I mean, if you all would have been inside my body to feel the pressure I felt when they were chanting my name, when I had everybody thinking about this game and the Steelers and how big that rivalry was … Joe coming in here is more of a blessing than anything,” he said. “Like I said, I'm asking him a bunch of questions. We were chopping it up, stuff done this morning. He's in the early meetings with us and me and PJ now, so it's great, man. He's fitting in so well. Like I said, I've only known him for just about a day with him being here, so I love Joe. It's been awesome.”
Brownie bits
Free safety Juan Thornhill (calf) did not practice after missing the Pittsburgh game. With Rodney McLeod (biceps) out for the season, the Browns lack a true deep safety. Rookie Ronnie Hickman and D’Anthony Bell are possibilities. The Browns fortified the position by adding 11-year veteran Duron Harmon to their practice squad. Harmon won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and has been with five teams since, most recently with the Bears, who released him on November 8 …
David Njoku called DTR after Sunday’s game and apologized for his four drops. “I'm like, ‘brother, you ain't got to worry about that. I'm going to come back to you on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all the days of practice.’ So, Dave's going to have a hell of a week this week. It's going to make a lot of catches this Sunday, and I'm excited for it." …
Stefanski said, yes, he did attend Flacco’s workout for the Browns on Friday. I asked him what he thought of Flacco’s mobility at age 38. “Looked better than you at 38,” he zinged. Ah, 7-3.
