It sure seems like Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is entering a do-or-die season. Baltimore just recently traded back into the first round for former Heisman winner Lamar Jackson.
The team has not been afraid to note publicly that it expects the rookie signal caller to play a big role out of the gate.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Flacco enters the 2018 campaign having averaged just 17 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions over the past three seasons. Last season alone, the former Super Bowl winner threw for just 3,141 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions en route to seeing Baltimore miss the playoffs for the third consecutive time.
A debate regarding whether Flacco is elite has been replaced with the idea that he might not be long for the Ravens’ starting job.
According to teammate C.J. Mosley, the criticism Flacco has received from those outside of the organization doesn’t match up with how the team views him internally. In fact, the linebacker went out of his way to defend Flacco.
Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley on Joe Flacco: "I think every year he comes with the mindset that he's going to be great, mainly because everybody outside this building doesn't think he's elite and inside the building everybody does think that way."
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) July 19, 2018
Mosley is pretty much the first Ravens player to come out and defend Flacco following the selection of Jackson back in April. And in reality, he’s showing himself to be a tremendous teammate in the process.
Does this mean that Flacco is elite? Of course not. Does this man that Flacco is guaranteed to be the starter long term? Obviously not.
Instead, how we view the veteran on the outside is seemingly much different than how the Ravens themselves view him.