Some individuals had been stunned when Jets coach Robert Saleh introduced that Joe Flacco would begin within the season opener towards the Baltimore Ravens.
Flacco wasn’t certainly one of them, as he prepped himself for the second since Zach Wilson suffered a knee harm through the preseason.
“Mentally, I’ve been preparing like I was going to play the whole time anyway, so it’s not really that big of a deal,” Flacco mentioned.
Not solely will Flacco begin towards the Ravens on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, however he may even begin the next two video games for the Jets — on the Cleveland Browns and residential towards the Cincinnati Bengals.
“He’s been preparing. He’s freaking awesome, and I’m really excited for him and his opportunity,” Saleh mentioned. “Even at 37, I know that it’s in the back of his head, he’s getting the chance to play Baltimore and all these different things and even at 37, he’s got to keep the main thing, the main thing, and just do his best and trust his best is good enough and I think we are all excited for Joe and his opportunity and excited for Sunday.”
Wilson suffered a meniscus tear and bone bruise on a noncontact play through the first quarter of the Jets’ preseason opener towards the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 12. Four days after the harm, Wilson underwent a process described as a “trim” to the meniscus.
Sources mentioned Wilson would solely be out two to 4 weeks, however the group by no means publicly introduced a timetable. On Monday, Saleh mentioned Wilson might probably begin the season opener, however he used some gamesmanship ways to attempt to throw the Ravens off.
Sunday will mark Flacco’s sixth begin since coming to the Jets two seasons in the past. In 2020, he began 4 video games after then beginning quarterback Sam Darnold was recovering from a shoulder harm. Then Flacco began one recreation towards the Dolphins final season after Wilson suffered a sprained PCL in his proper knee.
“I’m having a great time here,” Flacco mentioned. “I believe anytime you’re 15 years within the league, you’re going to have what appears like a younger group round you, however I’m having a number of enjoyable with them and it does assist that I’ve been right here for just a few years, and I’ve that rapport with a bunch of men on the group and you may undoubtedly inform the distinction between the locker room then and now.
“I’ll continue to say it, I think we have some momentum behind us, but we still haven’t done it on Sunday on a consistent basis, so I think until we do that, you always need to prove it to yourself and that locker room. We’re in a good spot, but we need to go out there and prove it to ourselves and get off to a good start.”
Sunday may even mark the primary time Flacco will face the group who drafted him with the No. 18 choose within the 2008 NFL Draft. Flacco performed with the Ravens for 11 seasons, which included profitable Super Bowl XLVII and being named the sport’s MVP.
However, in 2018, the Ravens traded again into the primary spherical to draft Lamar Jackson, who was pegged to be the way forward for the franchise. Following a 4-5 begin that season, Ravens coach John Harbaugh benched Flacco and began Jackson and the group completed 10-6 and gained the AFC North.
That following offseason, the Ravens traded Flacco to the Denver Broncos earlier than discovering his method to the Jets in 2020. Although he has downplayed dealing with his former group, his former coach understands the kind of participant Flacco is and what he did for town of Baltimore.
“Joe was our guy for many years,” Harbaugh mentioned. “He won 10 playoff games in the first five years.”
“He kind of transformed us in so many ways in terms of the type of team we were. We were throwing the ball around a little bit and having a lot of success with that. That’s kind of immeasurable.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com