BEREA, Ohio — The Browns are still waiting to see how rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson progresses through concussion protocol after making strides over the past week and a half. While they do and a decision looms on who will start—Thompson-Robinson or veteran Joe Flacco—the latter is making sure to prepare in case he's called upon for the second week straight.
Flacco's debut in orange and brown went relatively well. He threw for 254 yards, had a touchdown on the opening drive and another later in the game, and made sound decisions aside from the untimely interception late in the game against the Los Angeles Rams. That was all without having played for nearly a year.
"Obviously, he can stretch the field for sure. So real impressive for a guy to come off without an offseason or anything really, and step in and be productive. So, proud of him," said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
While a decision hasn't been made yet as to who will start, Thompson-Robinson was once again limited at practice on Thursday, with Flacco getting most of the work. With just one more day of practice ahead before Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the situation is trending towards Flacco getting his second straight start, barring a rally out of concussion protocol from Thompson-Robinson.
For Flacco, getting to step in and try to get some much-needed wins with the Browns, who are fighting for playoff contention (which makes the AFC matchup with the Jaguars that much more important), is an opportunity he's excited about.
"It's invigorating for sure. It's exciting. This is what you want," Flacco said. "You want to think about doing your job and everybody else doing their job side-by-side and letting everything else take care of itself."
His start against the Rams impressed his teammates and coaches. Clearly, Flacco, a 16-year vet and once Super Bowl MVP knows his way around a football field. His experience has made picking up a new offense come naturally. But in every facet of his game, the Browns saw Flacco prepared.
"I think he's seen it all, a lot of experience and I think he's picked up on the offense very quickly," said left guard Joel Bitonio. "He understands what he needs to do and there was never really a doubt in the huddle. He was confident, had the play calls in and out, knew our cadences, all that stuff was very good. So a lot of things that you do when you're used to a new quarterback, he kind of had down already, so it's been a good transition."
If the trend continues into Friday and Saturday and Thompson-Robinson remains in concussion protocol, Flacco will be set to make his orange and brown debut in Cleveland—a city he's played in front of countless times throughout his career, frequently over his 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
Playing at Cleveland Browns Stadium is something that has always felt right for Flacco. This time, it would just be a little more welcoming with him on the other side of things come game day.
"It's a grass field, outdoors, you feel the city of Cleveland. You usually have some kind of weather so you know where you are...definitely, that's the way you like it. You smell the grass, it just feels like football," Flacco said. "That's kind of always the stadiums that have been attractive to myself is when you can go out there and smell the grass and feel like it's football weather. And that's the time of the year we’re in. We're in December and we're in Cleveland and it should be a lot of fun."
