CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The old man is more than happy to show his younger counterparts he still has what it takes.
The Browns came into training camp with four quarterbacks healthy and competing for the starting job. Two weeks into camp, it’s been 40-year-old Joe Flacco who’s been the only one who hasn’t had to miss some part of a practice with an injury.
Flacco, speaking after the Browns’ Aug. 6 joint practice at the Carolina Panthers, sounded like he would take even more if he could get it.
“Hey, listen, I think, I mean, who knows why I’m the one guy, but I think the fact that I am 40 in here is just like I’ve been fortunate with my body,” Flacco said. “I’ve learned how to take care of it. I mean, there is part of me that wishes were doing three-hour practices because I could show that I could last through those, too. It’s not that much of an accomplishment to kind of come out here and make it through a training camp, but I do feel like if were grinding three hours, two and a half hours every day, I could still go through that, too. I wish I could show that a little bit.”
The first quarterback to go down was 27-year-old Kenny Pickett, who missed three practices and had four practices where he was limited by a hamstring injury he suffered July 30. Rookie fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders had to miss team drills Aug. 2 because of “arm soreness,” while rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel was limited for the second consecutive practice with a tight hamstring.
The injuries are such that the Browns had to sign Tyler Huntley earlier in the week just to give them enough healthy bodies to play their preseason opener Aug. 8 against the Panthers. That game will be started by Sanders, with Huntley cleaning up at the end.
While the injuries have piled up, Flacco was out slinging it around on a gray and misty Charlotte morning almost like he was 10 years younger. Even the Panthers couldn’t help but be amazed by the “old guy,” who they refused to see as 40.
“Nah man,” said Carolina safety Tre’von Moehring, who was eight when Flacco entered the league in 2008. “He’s a seasoned vet. Just great to compete against him and to show us things that a lot of people don’t show us because they haven’t been in the game as long as he has.”
Flacco didn’t go in the first of two seven-on-seven series against the Panthers, leaving that to Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders. He came on for the second seven-on-seven series, with only a drop by David Njoku preventing a perfect 4-for-4 series.
The first 11-on-11 featured two of Flacco’s best throws. One was a rifle shot to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy on a deep crossing pattern, while the other was a throw to wide receiver Cedric Tillman in the back in the end zone.
The second series in 11-on-11 started with a pass break-up on a throw to Jeudy and ended with a completion to Diontae Johnson. However, three of the four plays were marred by penalties on the Browns.
“I think it’s been a point of emphasis for us, like this camp,” Flacco said. “Pre-snap penalties, you know, like sometimes the stuff during the snap, like when you’re playing, it’s the pre snap ones are the one that we can control. It’s all mental. And I think we did have some of those today. … So, to come out here and get against another team where maybe you’re a little bit more revved up, I think that showed today.”
Flacco had two more four-play series during an 11-on-11 red-zone series. He was 2-of-3 on the first, with another pass going off Njoku’s hands.
Tillman and Luke Floriea caught passes from him in the second four-play set.
“It’s always a little bit fun,” Flacco said of joint practice. “I mean, back in the day, it used to be like a nice break in camp, but today it was, you know, it’s not as much needed, but it’s always good to go against somebody else, see some different jerseys over there and, you know, kind of put yourself to the test a little bit.”
Flacco isn’t just testing himself with what he’s doing at 40. He’s truly a believer that, for the first time in years, he can be the opening-day starter for a team.
That’s not just been some fantasy of late. It’s becoming more a reality each day.
“Yeah, listen, that’s why we play the game, right,” Flacco said. “You know, we play to play. That’s what gets us all going. You do get gained perspective. And when you go take that, just like I was talking about Tyler, like when you’re out in the grass in practice, you can remind yourself, ‘Wow, this is like, cool that we’re out here.’ But the end goal is to be the guy on the field playing the football games. That’s why we all do it. That’s as simple as it gets.”
It’s not quite that simple, but it’s getting close. Once the Browns get through next week’s joint practies and second preseason game in Philadelphia, it’s almost certainly going to be close to the point where the competition closes down and a decision has to be made.
Flacco doesn’t know where or when the quarterback competition will have a winner declared. But he knows what he needs to see from his offensive teammates, and himself, by the time they depart Philadelphia.
“Listen, you love to just come out here and go against teams and just gain confidence,” Flacco said. “… So, I know that’s not a specific goal or anything, but when guys start to get excited about what we could be, you can feel that, and that does matter.
“You know, good teams, they know how to win because they believe throughout the whole 60 minutes that they’re going to win. So, it would be really big if you could start to get some of that, and you can see the belief in guys.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Flacco feels ‘fortunate with my body’ as 40-year-old is healthy and in Browns’ QB mix
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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