Joe Flacco Opened Up About Joining The Browns On Pat McAfee Show
Joe Flacco is off to an elite level resurgence to his career since joining the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. In his five starts since then, he's has thrown for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions while lifting the Browns to a 4-1 record and a locking up a playoff berth.
For context, if you stretch his current pace out over a 17-game schedule, Flacco would have been on pace for 5,000-plus yards, 40 touchdowns and 20-to-25 interceptions.
He is playing some of the best football in his entire career and is doing it at the right time.
On Thursday Night, Flacco threw for 309 yards against one of the league's best defenses, one that hadn't given up a 300-yard passer in 39 consecutive games. It was the fourth consecutive 300-yard game, while also adding three touchdown passes to boot.
Cleveland put on a show in front of a national audience in a 37-20 win over the Jets one day later, Flacco joined the Pat McAfee Show to talk about his journey with a national audience. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation.
Flacco on joining another team:
"It was probably right on the brink of getting pretty late in the year. You start to crack a little bit, you start to have those feelings like, is this going to work out? There was part of me in the offseason that was trying to talk myself into the fact that being at home might work out better than signing in May, June, July, August."
Flacco on staying in football shape:
"It's impossible to do the same thing that you would if you were with the team at practice everyday throwing to the guys. I basically extended my offseason. I stayed in the gym and did all those things. In terms of throwing the football, I was doing it two, sometimes three days a week. Throwing to spots, throwing with my younger brother. My dad was out on the field spot catching. I was making sure my arm could deal with what it was going to go through."
Flacco on the Browns' culture:
"When you're a new guy in the locker room and you get received like I did, the way they went about their business in the first couple of weeks that I was here, you start to find out why these guys have as many wins as they did. The resiliency is just incredible. These guys have been dealing with all kinds of injuries this year but you never would have known there was any doubt or anything like that."
Flacco on David Njoku:
"He's incredible. Funny story, he must have been watching one of Stavvy's videos from a couple of weeks before I got there. So the first thing he is doing is coming up to me and is saying 'Joe Flacco! Joe Flacco!' He's an incredible teammate. His personality, the energy that he brings is just incredible. Obviously, you see the way he is built and how well he runs is something special to watch.
Flacco's entire interview was fantastic, and these are just a few of the highlights.
Joe Flacco has taken the city of Cleveland and the NFL by storm. With a trip to the playoffs looming, it may just be the beginning.
