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Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback is honest to a fault. So excuse him if a little piece of his brain processed the fact that he played as well as he did last year with the Cleveland Browns, and didn’t get a shot to start in 2024, as frustrating.
The rest of us saw it, too. He probably did play well enough to get that chance.
“Yeah, for sure,” he affirmed late Sunday afternoon. “You never know what’s gonna happen in this league. Some things aren’t up to you. So all you can do is go out there, play the best you can and forget about everything else. Listen, there was a lot to it. It was so much fun last year going out, playing the way I did. Definitely, I think you always kind of hope that you get a chance to go play for real again. But, hey, this is the nature of it, and this is where I am.
“So I just got to make the most of it. Enjoy every day. You can’t be negative because if you’re negative, it’s going to affect you in a lot of ways. And a day like today, when you’re called on and the team needs to rely on you, you’re not going to be there because you’re in this negative headspace. And that’s the last thing I want to do.”
Safe to say, Flacco was in a positive place going into coming out of Sunday.
Coming in for an injured Anthony Richardson (who’ll undergo tests on his hip Monday), the forever-young almost-40-year-old (more on his birthday shortly) was just what the Colts needed to outlast the previously perfect Pittsburgh Steelers 27–24 in Indy on Sunday. He finished with an efficient 168 yards, two touchdowns and 105.9 rating, but was just what Shane Steichen’s team needed to get back to .500 going into the season’s second month.
And whether Flacco gets an extended run like last year or not—that’ll ride on Richardson’s health—he remains a great example of a guy who has the right approach to the position he’s found himself in, even if that’s not quite the position he was hoping for back in March.
The funny thing is this guy with the great approach wasn’t quite sure which one to take to the job Sunday. Richardson first got nicked up in the game’s 10th minute on a collision with Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He left for two plays, during which Flacco got off his first throw of the season, on an underneath angle route to Jonathan Taylor on a four-verts call.
“They came out in two-high [zone] and kind of took away all the deep stuff,” Flacco says. “So I just kind of said, . And that’s what I did.”
Flacco came out a play later, but Richardson’s return lasted just one play—after he crumpled to the turf awkwardly on a run—after running again into Fitzpatrick. At which point, Flacco says he blacked out.
“I wish I remembered [what I was thinking],” Flacco says. “Definitely not the easiest situation. It was a little weird. I have gone in as a backup for some plays. But I haven’t gone in and then finished the game like that. And, initially, I wasn’t really sure what [Richardson’s injury] was. So I think that kind of delayed the process of really it sinking in and being the guy. But it's definitely a weird feeling, not something that I’m used to. I don’t think you would ever get used to that. You kind of just have to go out there and just turn your brain off a little bit and go play. …
“And then a couple plays later, I’m hitting J.D. [Josh Downs] for a little touchdown, just putting it on his chest. And it doesn’t get much easier than that one.”
During our conversation, Flacco mentioned that Richardson asked him for his birthday a while back, when Richardson figured out that his backup was born in 1985. “I said, ‘January,’” Flacco says. “He said, ‘January what?’ I said ‘January 16.’ He said, ‘Oh my god, my mom was born on January 8.’”
The two laughed about it, but it’s also a good reminder of how much Flacco has seen and experienced. Now in his 17th season, and second stint playing for Steichen (his first, in Philly, was a reason he signed with the Colts), there’s a lot he has to give to the game.
But as Flacco will remind you, he can still play a little bit, too. And with all of those years on his body and mind, he has a pretty good perspective and appreciation for days like Sunday.
“I’m not 23 anymore,” he says. “It’s not just me and my wife. I have five kids. I have more people that I get to enjoy it with. That’s one thing that makes it different. I was out of the league, not being there and realizing that you want to be there. It is a good reminder. No matter what your job is, it is a job. I think at times, for NFL players, you do view this as a job, and every now and then you need to remind yourself that this isn’t a normal job. This is the best job in the world.
“And every now and then, something happens that does that for you. And that’s kind of what last year was. It was that reminder, like, And when I got back in there last year and had that opportunity again, I definitely was aware of all that, and it definitely made it more enjoyable than ever—because of that. So you need those reminders and little resets to kind of remind you what we do.”
As for what was most fun about Sunday? “Winning,” he says.
As he showed us all last year, he’s still plenty capable of that, too.
