Is Joe Flacco ready be the Browns’ No. 2 QB vs. Broncos? And what Amari Cooper thinks of having him on board
Joe Flacco looked right at home by Friday throwing to the Browns backup receivers in the early part of practice open to the media, his third day of work with his new team.
But is he ready to be the Browns’ No. 2 quarterback Sunday in Denver?
Kevin Stefanski, who needs all the competitive advantage he can get in this tight playoff race and with Deshaun Watson out for the season, declined to say if Flacco’s ready to be Dorian Thompson’s backup in his first week with the Browns.
“I’m not going to get into specifics on roster-type things,” Stefanski said.
Might they elevate him from the practice squad on Saturday?
“Potentially could do that,” he said. “I feel really confident with the guys we have.”
It means that Stefanski could possibly stick with P.J. Walker as his backup, in large part because Flacco is still getting up to speed here and hasn’t played since last January when he started the season finale for the Jets.
But there’s at least one receiver who’s on board with another Jacoby Brissett-like mentor in the house for their rookie QB.
“I think it’s a phenomenal idea,” Cooper said. “Obviously, Joe Flacco is a guy who growing up, we all watched, and especially with DTR back there, being such a young player, a rookie, just having guidance, more guidance. So, I think it’s a phenomenal idea.”
Myles Garrett joked that he stalked Flacco a little bit this week.
“Three yards behind him, just in case he got any bright ideas,” he said.
Reminded that Flacco said he’s less intimidating when he’s not in pads bearing down on him, Garrett quipped “right. I look like a regular guy on the street.”
Cooper on the team-wide dropped passed and the pick vs. Pittsburgh
Cooper has always maintained that it’s his job to catch the ball, regardless of who’s throwing it to him, and he’s lived up to that adage this season.
In his view, the half-dozen dropped passes during the 13-10 victory over the Steelers can’t be pinned on Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
“If you have a dropped ball, that means it hit your hands and you didn’t catch it,” he said. “So, I mean, ultimately, you can never blame a drop on the quarterback.”
Likewise, he blamed Thompson-Robinson’s third-quarter pick on himself. The ball glanced off Cooper’s hands, and was swiped Chandon Sullivan at the Pittsburgh 23. Fortunately for Cooper and Thompson-Robinson, the defense bailed them out with a three and out.
“That was, I believe, our one turnover in the game,” he said. “I was supposed to have stronger hands there and just catch the ball.”
The Browns will have to be laser-focused to protect the ball against the Broncos, who are tied for third in the NFL with 19 takeaways including 12 in the last three games.
“Fundamentals,” Cooper said. “Making sure we come back to the ball every chance we get.
Not just standing there after we break off our routes, actually coming back to the ball, cutting off the ability of the cornerback to undercut the ball, half point in the ball.
Make sure we’re assignment sound, make sure we know the game plan so there are as little mistakes as possible. Make sure we have strong hands. All the so-called little things we have to make sure we’re on it.”
