OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Joe Flacco will indeed be starting against the Ravens on Sunday.
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh on Sept. 8 ruled out quarterback Zach Wilson (knee) for Week 1, leaving Flacco in line to start on Sept. 11 at MetLife Stadium against the team he led to a Super Bowl title in the 2012 season.
Saleh said Flacco, now in his 15th NFL season, has been “a very calming force, if you will, running the offense.”
Asked on a teleconference with Baltimore media whether Flacco would have any extra motivation facing his former team for the first time, Saleh said, “He’s kind of like Bill Nye the Science Guy. Just very calm. You guys know him, right?”
“I’m sure it’s kind of a big deal for him,” Saleh continued, “but I think he’s old enough, and he’s been around the block enough, and he’s been in enough big games where he’s able to put aside his personal emotions” and focus on the task at hand.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, whose first year with the Ravens was Flacco’s rookie year, said the team has been preparing thinking Flacco would start this week.
“Before the game, it will be good to say hello, but once you get into the game, it’s the game,” Harbaugh said. “We have to defend their offense, and Joe’s ability to play in that offense.”
Flacco, 37, is in his second stint with the Jets after re-signing with the team in March.
Flacco spent his first 11 seasons in Baltimore, leading the Ravens to the playoffs in his first five years. That stretch was capped by the Super Bowl title in the 2012 season, when Flacco produced one of the most successful postseason runs by any quarterback in NFL history.
Flacco threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions during the Ravens’ four-game postseason winning streak, including the 70-yard “Mile High Miracle” game-tying touchdown at Denver and three touchdown passes in the 34-31 Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers, after which Flacco was named Most Valuable Player.
After that season, Flacco was re-signed to a six-year, $120.6 million deal, the largest in team history. But the team reached the playoffs just once in the next five seasons, and Flacco suffered the first significant injury of his career when he sustained a torn ACL midway through the 2015 season. Until then, he had never missed a game.
In 2018, though, Flacco suffered a midseason hip injury, paving the way for rookie Lamar Jackson to take over the Ravens’ offense. Jackson went 6-1 as the starter that year, relegating Flacco to a backup role for the first time in his career.
With the franchise fully committed to Jackson and an offensive scheme centered around Jackson that Harbaugh hailed as “revolutionary,” the team traded Flacco to the Denver Broncos after the 2018 season.
Flacco played one season in Denver, then joined the Jets in 2020. He briefly was with the Philadelphia Eagles, who traded him back to the Jets during the 2021 season.
Flacco started one game for the Jets last season, a 24-17 loss to Miami. Since leaving Baltimore, he is 2-11 as a starter.
Flacco still holds several of the Ravens’ most significant passing records — many by a large margin — including yards in a season (4,317) and career (38,245), completions in a season (436) and career (3,499) and touchdown passes in a career (212).
“Joe can throw it,” said Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who played opposite the big-armed quarterback every day in practice for Flacco’s last two seasons in Baltimore. “That’s one thing: When Joe wants to throw the ball deep, he’ll throw it deep. He’s a guy that can make all the throws.”
“I remember Joe’s count, ‘White 80, White, 80,” Humphrey said with a laugh. “So I’m used to that a little bit, but it will be good to see Joe again. I have a lot of respect for him.”
PRACTICE NOTEBOOK
TRAVIS JONES ONLY ABSENCE: Rookie defensive lineman Travis Jones (knee) was the only player who did not take part in practice Sept. 8. According to the team’s first injury report, running back J.K. Dobbins (knee), cornerback Marcus Peters (knee) and tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) were limited.
HARBAUGH MUM ON DOBBINS STATUS FOR JETS: Head coach John Harbaugh did not indicate whether J.K. Dobbins would be able to play in Week 1. Dobbins, coming off a torn ACL that cost him all of last season, vowed earlier this summer that he would be ready for Week 1, and he has been practicing since early August. Dobbins was officially listed as limited in the team’s first practice injury report on Sept. 8.
Harbaugh said Dobbins has been “ascending quickly, especially in the last week, week and a half,” but added that he would decide by the end of the week which of the Ravens’ running backs would be active. In addition to Dobbins, the Ravens have Mike Davis, Kenyan Drake and Justice Hill on the active roster, as well as rookie Tyler Badie on the practice squad.
“We’ll see by the end of the week where we’re at,” Harbaugh said.
RAVENS SIGN LB FACKRELL TO PRACTICE SQUAD: The Ravens have added linebacker Kyler Fackrell to the practice squad. The six-year veteran played for the Los Angeles Chargers last year, recording 17 tackles and three sacks in 13 games. He spent four years with the Green Bay Packers and has 23.5 career sacks, including 10.5 with Green Bay in 2018.
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