Joe Flacco’s comment on not wanting to be dubbed a “mentor” to the young Cleveland Browns quarterbacks is not going over well with some, including one of his former teammates.
During OTAs this week, Flacco was measured when asked about mentoring rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. While he didn’t dismiss the idea outright, he made it clear that he’s still a competitor and not ready to be sidelined holding a clipboard.
“If I say, ‘I don’t want to be a mentor,’ I look bad. If I say, ‘I do want to be a mentor,’ I look like an idiot that doesn’t care about being good and playing football,” Flacco told reporters. “I tend to try to be honest. And I’ve said, ‘I’m not a mentor; I play football.’
“And in a quarterback room… there have been a ton of times where there have been learning experiences, and I have a lot of experience. I can talk on things. And, hopefully, they listen. But it’s not necessarily my job to make sure they listen to me. Hopefully, you have a really good relationship with the guys that are in the room. And you naturally want to do that.”
Joe Flacco’s Response Called ‘Ridiculous’
Flacco’s former Baltimore Ravens teammate Chris Canty didn’t hold back when reacting to Flacco’s comments. Speaking Friday on ESPN’s “Unsportsmanlike,” Canty made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the veteran quarterback’s stance.
“Mentoring a young player is only going to make that player better, which makes the team better,” Canty said. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link. The whole point of the exercise is that everybody makes everyone better. That’s why you practice. You’re making each other better. It’s what you’re supposed to do. You do that with the reps on the practice field, but you also do that by sharing points and notes in the film room.
“It’s a ridiculous answer from Joe Flacco. There’s no guarantee Joe Flacco is going to be healthy for 17 games, especially at 40 years old.”
Flacco is on the backend of his career but is looking to log a few more starts with the Browns. It’s early but the former Super Bowl MVP has drawn praise for his performance in OTAs so far.
“Flacco throws the ball in a practice setting better than any of them,” Zac Jackson of The Athletic said in his analysis of the QB competition so far. “Add his overall experience, and he’s the favorite to win the job, unless Stefanski and others in the organization just favor Pickett — or unless Pickett outplays Flacco in the coming months.”
Browns Rookie Shedeur Sanders Fan of Working With Joe Flacco
Despite his comments on being a mentor, Flacco hasn’t been a curmudgeon in the quarterback room. In fact, Sanders has liked working with Flacco and is frankly stunned they’re on the same team.
“We are all different characters. It’s funny to go in there and see Joe every day. At practice, I’m like, ‘wow, I’m really with Joe Flacco right now. We’re on the same team.’ That’s cool,” Sanders said.
Whether he wants to be a mentor or not, Flacco is a valuable asset for the rookies to lean on. And if he doesn’t end up winning the starting job, Flacco could find himself on the move again, with the Browns unlikely to keep four quarterbacks on the roster.
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