BEREA, Ohio — Joe Flacco doesn't mind the sound of his name followed by the descriptor "starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns." It's what he planned when he returned to the team this offseason, and after earning the role, he hopes to bring some of the magic back from the 2023 season that made him a fan favorite in the city.
But this summer didn't come with the assurance that the starting role was his. He entered the quarterbacks' room shortly after the team traded for Kenny Pickett. A short time later, the Browns drafted two rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Flacco spent training camp taking the majority of first-team reps, but saw those reps divided amongst the other quarterbacks in the room. It was untraditional and unique to say the least.
"I think we all probably knew we weren't going to get the reps that we'd love to get, but I think you can dwell on that or you can kind of just let it go and like I said, kind of trust that everybody in the building has a process and a plan for it. And just, when you do get your chance, do the best you can," Flacco said.
Through the process, Flacco said he wasn't thinking about the possibility of not starting. His goal was to do his best and leave the rest up to head coach Kevin Stefanski and the staff.
"I think from the beginning it was, it wasn't really about thinking about what was going to happen come season time. It was just kind of staying in the moment and trusting the process and trusting the people that make the decisions that they had a plan and really kind of leaving it up to them and then just doing my part," Flacco said.
Throughout the summer, all three of the other quarterbacks in the competition missed some time with injury. Pickett and Gabriel missed some practices and the preseason action with hamstring injuries. Sanders missed a practice with arm soreness and then missed the second preseason game with an oblique injury.
Flacco, who is 40 years old and entering his 18th NFL season, remained healthy. While he does take care of his body, he also attributes the fact that he's able to be a starting quarterback after nearly two decades of playing in the league to a little bit of luck.
"I think no matter what you're doing, you've got to get a little bit lucky and be fortunate to be able to do it as long as you want to be able to do it, so I definitely think that I can count myself as one of those people that's been lucky," Flacco said. "But listen, it's about learning throughout the process and taking care of your body, keeping your mind sharp so that you still want to do it, and then once you take care of all that stuff, coming into the locker room and doing all the things with the guys every day, it's so much fun, that it makes it pretty easy."
Over his 18 seasons in the league, Flacco spent 11 of them as a division rival. His time with the Baltimore Ravens made him an enemy in the eyes of Browns fans. Then, in 2023, Flacco signed with the Browns in the middle of a tumultuous season with a carousel of quarterbacks under center.
Flacco helped lead the Browns to a playoff berth in his time here and went from division rival to a fan favorite. From "Flacco Fever" signs to "Flacco 'round and find out" t-shirts and everything in between, Cleveland embraced Flacco, and he felt all of the appreciation. It's something he hopes can happen again this season.
"It's always cool to see how people react to this game in general. I think sometimes you can forget because it's our job. You can forget how important it is for people in the community to go out and watch football and have that be a part of their weekend and I think little moments like that kind of remind you like why you got into it and why and and and how excited you used to be to be one of those people so it it was a lot of fun and definitely hoping to recreate a little bit of it," Flacco said.
Flacco will play in 20-25 plays in Saturday's final preseason game. He's been named the starter for Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals at home. That regular season game will officially kick off his 18th season—and even though he's done it on different teams for 17 years prior, he's eager for that moment this year, to run out of the tunnel, onto the field in a stadium filled with Browns fans.
"It's going to be a lot of fun. I know that people in this city are going to be excited for the season to start. We open up with a division game right off the bat, so it doesn't get any better than that," Flacco said.
