Joe Flacco reflects on 2018 season: 'I did not want to let Lamar get out there'

When Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson injured his oblique, his backup, former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, felt a bit of deja vu to his time in Baltimore.

The Colts drafted Richardson fourth overall in 2023, pegging the former Florida star as the next franchise cornerstone. He suffered a concussion in his second career game. Shortly after he returned to the field last October, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery. Fast forward to Sunday, and the 22-year-old was again ruled out, missing his 14th out of 22 possible games.

“I was kind of just the guy that was like, ‘I’m here. I’ll be ready if need be,'” Flacco, the 39-year-old backup, said after the Colts’ 37-34 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

He was in a similar position in 2018 — his last with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson’s rookie year — when Flacco’s hip injury gave Jackson his first career start.

“Man, I did not want to let Lamar get out there, that’s for sure,” Flacco said. “That was my team. And that was very hard mentally for me. I pushed it as far as I could in terms of trying to let them convince me to go out there and play. But at the same time, you don’t want to put your future career in danger.”

Baltimore’s changing of the guard came in Flacco’s 11th season. He was traded to the Denver Broncos that offseason. He’s now in Year 17, hoping he can share the wisdom of virtuous patience with Richardson, even knowing how much that “may hurt in the moment.”

Flacco has reshaped his career since ceding control of the Ravens to Jackson, who has blossomed into a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and is now working on his case for a third.

Flacco threw for 359 yards and three touchdown passes against Jacksonville. Combined with his four starts last year with the Cleveland Browns, he’s the oldest player in league history with at least 300 yards and two touchdown passes in five consecutive starts.

When he scrambled out of the pocket in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss, Flacco notched a top speed of 18.76 mph, per Next Gen Stats, which is his fastest speed as a ball carrier since tracking began in 2016. Pro Football Focus gave him the highest grade (90.0) of any Colt with a minimum of 25 snaps in Week 5.

“I’m trying to stay in that routine of being the guy,” Flacco said. “Obviously you can’t quite get to that spot. Like I wish there was something that you could take and turn the blinders on and you just thought you were starting all week and then all of a sudden you showed up right before the game and they told you you weren’t, because there is a little bit of a difference.

“Getting back in the role where you’re getting practice reps and you’re probably going to play, that’s the easy part, to be honest with you.”

Colts coach Shane Steichen said Monday that when Richardson is healthy, he will return to his starting role with Flacco as his backup.

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