Joe Flacco speaks on his two games with the Browns so far, Week 15, and more
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns quarterback Joe Flacco took questions from reporters on Wednesday at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus regarding his two games so far, playing Chicago, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department
“Yeah, I’m sure at this point like that, I ultimately feel a little bit more fresh than most guys know. When you’ve been through a whole long season, even though your body kind of gets used to the wear and tear, you’re dealing with something. So, at this point, to be able to come in healthy, even though I haven’t dealt with getting hit and all that, you’re always healthier and more fresh in the beginning. And that’s kind of what this is for me.”
Joe, you said the other day that after the game that the Browns didn’t call right away. So, what are you thinking, I guess during that period where they don’t call and then when they do call and then how the workout goes, did you know right away you were coming?
“Well, obviously I didn’t know I was going to be here, so hindsight is a different thought process than when it’s in the moment. I don’t think it was really any different Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday than I had been doing because I hadn’t gotten a call to that point and just hadn’t, you know what I’m saying? So now to look back and say, okay, I didn’t come out here until Friday to work out and stuff like that, I don’t know. It’s tough to explain just the difference. I really wasn’t thinking much of it, though.”
Almost every week here before you arrived, the question was, who’s playing quarterback this week? For various reasons that’s been established, I guess now after the game coach named you started for the rest. Does that change, anything in your mind? Make it easier to prepare for the journey ahead?
“No, I think in your mind you got to take it week to week anyway and act like you’re the guy and focus on being the guy. So really nothing else changes. We still want to go out there and have a good week’s worth of work, and that’s really what it all comes down to.”
Joe, did you watch games on Sunday and you were waiting for the opportunity or was it kind of weird to watch games?
“It’s always a little strange to watch games, but what else are you really doing on Sundays? You usually do a few things in the morning with the kids. I watched a good bulk of the 1:00 p.m. games, and then after that I tended not to watch as many as of the 4:30 p.m. or the night games.”
What do you see when you look at this Bears defense, Joe?
“Well, they’ve been creating turnovers recently, and I think they make you kind of go the long way and just be patient.”
Joe, I think it was Ryan Clark said you tried out for a TV show, like, is that something you really considered just being done and being an analyst? Or how did that kind of play out?
I really don’t want to have to ever do that stuff. 15 years ago, I would have told you no chance at all. These days, I think you at least entertain the option, but yeah, I know. I don’t know if you guys know me at all, but that’s the last thing I really want to do with my life.”
Did you audition?
Joe, Myles (Garrett) said after the game, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to be one of them, if you’re not already one of them. How important is that to hear from the captain’s football team?
“Yeah well, that’s important. I think I’ve talked about it from day one, just becoming part of the team and wanting to prove that you deserve to be a part of the team. So that’s always important for a player.”
What were you better at the second game? What were you better at the second time?
“Oh man. Well, I think some of the things that I talked about, like, in terms of being able to get out of the pocket when I needed to, and just not that it was a ton, but I still think there were some similarities that showed up in some of the other things. The thing I was disappointed in on a few plays were just my feet and the routes, and I threw a couple of bad balls that I’m not used to throwing just because I don’t feel like my feet were tied in with my eyes and all that stuff. So more just conscious of still the improvements I need to make as opposed to what I improved on.”
