Denver Broncos: Joe Flacco again spurns mentor role
Joe Flacco appears to be the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and he’s not planning on helping Drew Lock take his spot anytime soon.
For the first time in his career, Joe Flacco will suit up for a team that’s not the Baltimore Ravens. The veteran Super Bowl winner was traded to the Denver Broncos this offseason after being usurped by Lamar Jackson in Baltimore last season. Expected to be the starter for Denver, Flacco will still have pressure behind him in 2019 and beyond.
After passing on a quarterback in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Broncos elected to move up in the second round after making their initial selection and nabbing Drew Lock out of Missouri. Though Lock will need time to hone his skills, there’s no question that a high-profile rookie behind Flacco is going to bring about the same narrative Flacco faced with the Ravens last year.
As of now, Flacco is already playing into that same narrative once again. Famously after last year’s draft, the veteran quarterback was seemingly non-existent in regards to his mentorship role for Jackson. He did not reach out to him for some time and seemed quite mum on the topic as a whole. He’s not being mum now in Denver, but the pattern seems to be the same.
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Per NFL.com, Flacco had this to say about being a mentor to Lock when talking to reporters:
"“I got so many things to worry about,” Flacco told reporters. “I’m trying to go out there and play good football. I’m trying to go out there and play the best football of my life. As far as a time constraint and all stuff, I’m not worried about developing guys or any of that. That is what it is, and like I said, I hope he does develop. But I don’t look at that as my job. My job is to go win football games for this football team.”"
In truth, Flacco isn’t wrong. As of now, he’s the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and that means his job is to go out and win games. However, you’re blind if you don’t believe that there’s a certain nuance to all of this, especially coming from Flacco’s position.
Aside from his magical postseason run that led to a Ravens Super Bowl win, Flacco has been wildly pedestrian over his career. He’s not a star that has proven he will hold the starting job until he just doesn’t want it or ages out of it. Thus, as he comes to his new team and has a rookie quarterback beneath him, you would think that he would recognize this and work to endear himself.
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Instead, he’s clearly staying true to his beliefs, for better or worse. Again, there was always going to be talk about Lock taking over for Flacco in 2019 and moving forward, especially if Flacco struggles. With comments like this, though, that talk is only going to get louder more quickly.