Joe Flacco was named the Bengals’ starting quarterback a day after joining the team in a trade with the Browns, which means he’ll have no time to waste when it comes to picking up the team’s offense.
Wednesday was the first chance he had to work on that in a practice setting and the early reviews are all positive. Center Ted Karras called Flacco’s mix of size and arm strength a “recipe for success” and said he doesn’t anticipate there being much of a learning curve when it comes to things like setting protections in Sunday’s game against the Packers.
“Until he really gets a good feel for what we’re doing, which I think he already has, I’m going to be a little more demonstrative,” Karras said, via the team’s website. “But I think it’s business as usual. I thought we had a smooth, clean day.”
Running back Chase Brown had a similar feeling when it came to Flacco’s ability to get players where they need to be from play to play.
“Zac would read a play to him, and he was able to recite it perfectly. Almost verbatim. I didn’t hear any mistakes,” Brown said. “It was pretty impressive with that. You could go tell him a play right now, and he could recite it for you. Your own play. I was impressed by that.”
Flacco’s experience makes it easier to pick up the framework of a new offense. The key for the Bengals will be his ability to execute it more effectively than Jake Browning did in a three-game losing streak that pushed the team to make a deal this week.
