The Cincinnati Bengals traded for former Cleveland Browns QB Joe Flacco to try and save their season after three weeks of subpar play from backup Jake Browning, and Flacco could be ready to go as soon as this weekend for Cincinnati. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that the Bengals expect Flacco to be a quick learner and “would like” him to be ready to play on Sunday.
Notably, Schefter didn’t write that the Bengals expect him to start on Sunday. His ESPN colleague Dan Graziano said on SportsCenter today that he doesn’t think the Bengals will have Flacco start until Week 8.
“I don’t think the Bengals expect Joe Flacco to come in and be able to start for them right away,” Graziano said. “I would say Week 8 would be the soonest you see Joe Flacco, if at all.”
Flacco’s status is worth paying attention to with the Steelers headed to Cincinnati for a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Bengals in Week 7. It would be a quick turnaround for Flacco to be ready to start on Sunday. He’s learning a new system and a new offense, and while that’s nothing new for him and he could be a quick study, it still may be a lofty expectation.
If Flacco isn’t ready to start on Sunday, it might be tough to get him ready for Week 7 on a short week. Of course, it doesn’t make much sense for the Bengals to acquire Flacco with the intent of not starting him, and if the team feels he’s ready to go and understands the offense enough, he could start ahead of Jake Browning on Sunday and beyond.
Browning has struggled in the three games he’s started since replacing the injured Joe Burrow, and at 2-3, the Bengals need a spark to save their season. Trading for Flacco just to make him a backup wouldn’t really be much of a spark, and if they fall to 2-5, then it makes it a lot tougher to climb out of their hole.
The expectation is likely that Flacco can be ready to start on Sunday, and that’s probably what the Bengals are looking for. While it may be difficult, the team is in dire straits right now and Flacco represents an upgrade over what it has gotten from Browning. The next few days in practice will be crucial, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Flacco as Cincinnati’s QB1 going forward.
