Baltimore Ravens: John Harbaugh says Joe Flacco will be ready Week 1
By Ben Palmer
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has promised that quarterback Joe Flacco will be ready for the week one season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has promised that quarterback Joe Flacco will be ready for the week one season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s been out with a back injury since the start of the preseason.
After the Baltimore Ravens’ 13-9 preseason win against the Buffalo Bills, Harbaugh said, “He will be back for the Bengals game, I promise you that.”
Initially, Flacco’s doctors had told him he only needed a week of rest for his back injury, however he has yet to practice this preseason and has been out for 30 days so far.
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The Ravens announced in an August 11th press release that Flacco would not be playing at all in the preseason, but that he would still the starter come the season opener. Harbaugh said that Flacco would not be practicing on Sunday but said that he was “on schedule.”
Flacco had a career-high number of passing attempts last season with 672, second in the NFL behind New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees who had 673. He ended the year with 4,317 yards (good for seventh in the NFL), 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions (tied with Brees for seventh in the league).
Flacco’s immediate backup is Ryan Mallett, who filled in for Flacco in the last two games of the 2015 season. Mallett’s last bit of significant action was the final game of the 2015 regular season against the Bengals where he 53.6% of his passes for 292 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
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Flacco is one of the most important players, if not the most important player, on the Baltimore Ravens offense. Wide receiver Mike Wallace told The Baltimore Sun, “He’s the guy that makes the whole offense work, so just spending more time with him and him being healthy for the whole offseason and being able to work with him even more, it just puts us in a better position and a better place.”