Joe Flacco returns to Baltimore for the first time as an opposing player since his 11 years with the Ravens ended with a trade to Denver in 2019. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Joe Flacco finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a controversy.
He was the Super Bowl MVP quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens’ second NFL championship following the 2012 season, and undoubtedly will be part of the organization’s planned 30th year celebration on Sunday.
But his first visit to Baltimore as an opposing player is with the Cleveland Browns. The former Browns owned by Art Modell is the team the state of Maryland absconded in 1996 to create the Ravens, leaving Cleveland without an NFL team for three years.
Celebrating the Ravens’ birth with the Browns as their opponent has infuriated those in the Browns fans base old enough to have lived through the franchise’s darkest days.
“It’s funny because that isn’t the first thing that I think about, not being from here, but I can understand how that looks,” Flacco said.
“Listen, they do these things, and I think you can take it however you want. If you’re from Cleveland, you can take it one way, and if you’re from Baltimore, you can say it’s not a big deal. It’s just one of those things. Honestly, for me, it kind of makes it more exciting. You know, we get to go in there when they’re … having some people back and just more ex-players, more eyes on you. It’ll make it more interesting.”
It will be Flacco’s first game in Baltimore since the Ravens traded him to Denver in February of 2019 to clear the path for the Lamar Jackson era.
In 11 years with the Ravens, Flacco quarterbacked the team to three AFC North titles, seven post-season appearances, and a 3-point win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47. He had a 96-67 record as a starting quarterback, passed for more than 38,000 yards and compiled 212 touchdowns vs. 136 interceptions.
Flacco and coach John Harbaugh joined the Ravens together in 2008. Harbaugh is now in his 18th season, second in longevity with the same team to Mike Tomlin’s 19 years in Pittsburgh.
“It’s one of those things … in the NFL there’s a business side of it and things happen,” Flacco said. “I’m fortunate to be where I am today and be in this position, but I have nothing but love for that city and for that organization. I mean, I was a small school guy that they took a little bit of a chance on early on in the draft. I have so many good memories with those people in that city and that stadium … a very special place.”
Flacco’s only game against his former team came in the 2022 season opener as a member of the Jets. He threw for 309 yards in a game dominated by the Ravens, 24-9. The Jets were 7-10 that year.
While Flacco is excited about returning to Baltimore, there’s no worry about him keeping his emotions in check.
“I’ve been criticized my whole career for not being able to show any emotion, so I think that’s the last thing you have to worry about with me,” he said.
Oh, really?
I reached out to Ravens PR to ask Sashi Brown, the club president and former Browns executive vice president, why the club scheduled their 30th year celebration on the day the Browns were the opponent.
The response came from a Ravens spokesperson:
“Planning for our 30th season began last year, with the home opener as the kickoff of our anniversary celebration.
“The plans to celebrate the 30th season were publicly released in March prior to the announcement of the league schedule and before we knew who our home opening opponent would be.”
Q visits the principal’s office
Quinshon Judkins’ first practice with the Browns since he was cleared of domestic battery charges and signed his contract will be on Thursday. He spent Wednesday at NFL headquarters in New York being interviewed by the league to determine if he violated the NFL personal conduct policy.
A league spokesman replied in an email to TheLandOnDemand that “there is no timeline” in the Judkins case.
Coach Kevin Stefanski remained noncommittal about Judkins’ status for Sunday’s game in Baltimore.
Stefanski said Judkins “looks good” conditioning-wise.
“I think with any player, you want to be very smart about where they are, because it’s all different,” he said. “It could be guys coming off an injury, a guy that you sign late during the year. You just have to be smart about where they are, and that’s where this week we’ll take it day-by-day and see where he is before we make that determination.”
Szmyt, yeah
Stefanski confirmed that Andre Szmyt will be the kicker in Baltimore and that the club has no intention – for now – of bringing in a competitor after Szmyt missed a PAT and field goal in the 17-16 loss to the Bengals.
“We’re not going to be perfect,” Stefanski said. “We’ll own that together. But we have a ton of confidence because of what we’ve seen from this young man.”
Szmyt said he “didn’t really think about” losing his job.
“I tried to make the corrections as needed,” he said. “You have to have short-term memory and forget about it.”
He said it felt good to have the support of teammates and was unaware of the overwhelming negative reaction to his first NFL game on social media.
“I try to stay off social media. I think it’s crap, at the end of the day,” Szmyt said. “I’m just going to focus on the building and my teammates and my process and my job.”
Brownie bits
Stefanski declined to say whether Jerry Jeudy was supposed to lateral the ball after making a catch at the Browns’ 29-yard line on the final play of the Cincinnati game. Jeudy said, “No, I was just trying to make a play. There were a lot of defenders around. I was just trying to make the catch first then worry about everything else after.” …
Jeudy’s candor was on display when he was asked the challenges presented by the Ravens’ defensive secondary populated by five former first-round draft picks: “No challenges,” he said …
In Baltimore, Lamar Jackson was asked if he were surprised Flacco is still playing at a high level at the age of 40. Jackson said, “No. My rookie year I saw Flacc, on this field right here, throw an 80-yard bomb cross body to Chris Moore. It was ridiculous. So for me to see that back then, [there is] no doubt in my mind. No doubt in my mind.” …
Also, John Harbaugh said Flacco is “iconic, I think, in Baltimore football history.”