Joe Flacco found himself mired in misery with the Cleveland Browns when he learned he was headed to the opposite corner of Ohio to play savior for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The true messiah -- franchise quarterback Joe Burrow -- made his way back to the practice field this week and is nearing his highly anticipated return, meaning Flacco will soon head back to the bench as a 40-year-old backup. The clock is ticking on his tenure as Bengals starter, a thankless job that has included an assortment of joys and frustration, but Flacco isn't wasting time pondering what his future might look like in December.
"I don't know, I think backups probably do it a good amount where they know like, 'Hey, this guy's coming back, he's got a three-week injury or whatever it is,'" Flacco said, via The Cincinnati Enquirer. "I'm honestly not really thinking about it. It's not really a part of my process. I really don't care. It's this week, and that's all that matters. And I think to think about that stuff would just be a distraction. So it's not really something I'm worried about.
"Like I said, I'm just worried about doing my job, and this week that's going out and playing against Pittsburgh."
Flacco is too old to fall victim to any off-field distractions, especially with a game against a familiar rival in Pittsburgh next up on the 3-6 Bengals' schedule. If they're going to climb back into the AFC North race, they'll need to get moving, starting with this contest.
Simply, there's no time to waste worrying about his anticipated demotion.
Some may wonder if such a reality might negatively affect the dynamic between Burrow and Flacco, and if it could poison a Bengals locker room that is already dealing with its own strife thanks to the failures of their sieve-like defense.
Flacco downplayed such concerns, pointing toward the benefit of sharing a room with a signal-caller owning plenty of experience leading Zac Taylor's offense.
"Listen, I think you can probably make too much about that honestly," Flacco said. "I mean, listen, we're just two quarterbacks sitting in a room, and it's not like we're doing anything groundbreaking in there. We're two quarterbacks in a room just like any other two quarterbacks for the most part. I think, like I said, for me, still being new in the offense, and it's not just him, it's also Jake (Browning). I'm still at the point where you're able to kind of see the operation of things and kind of bounce little questions like that off those guys. I think that's still the biggest thing.
"But if I can kinda understand where they're coming from, it makes it a little easier for me. ... (Burrow)'s been great to have in the room just because he's been operating in this offense and actually been out there doing it for however many years now. So it's always nice to be able to see ... the operation of how he may do things."
The operation has been stellar since Flacco took over in Week 6. The seasoned veteran has averaged 313.5 passing yards per game, posted a 102.6 passer rating and owns an 11-2 TD-INT ratio in four contests, keeping the Bengals in every matchup with his arm. It's Flacco's latest attempt to rescue a team with playoff ambitions and lead them to the postseason, but unlike his magical run in Cleveland in 2023, he cannot compensate for Cincinnati's awful defense.
If Flacco wants to complete his 18th NFL season with another storybook journey to the playoffs, he may need to put the team on his back to do it. Cincinnati will hope he can keep its hopes afloat until Burrow is ready to return next month.
