Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco hasn’t been playing well since early in the 2018 season, and the Ravens have lost four out of their last five games.
Not surprisingly, many fans are clamoring for head coach John Harbaugh to let first-round rookie and former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson take over. That, however, is not in the mix at this time.
On Monday, Harbaugh told reporters, “Joe’s played well, so I don’t want to get into all of that. We’re rolling right now with what we got,” per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
In all fairness, Flacco has not played well. Especially lately. In his past five games, Flacco has thrown just four touchdowns and four interceptions. The only win for Baltimore during this stretch came against Tennessee, which famously gave up 11 sacks in that lopsided contest.
Harbaugh did hint that Jackson will be an option at some point, saying, “Of course, at some point in time, this guy [Jackson] is a quarterback.”
The Ravens aren’t out of it in the AFC North. Currently, they are in third place with a 4-5 record. So it’s understandable that Harbaugh isn’t yet willing to sit his long-term starter in favor of a raw rookie, even if Jackson has sparkled a few times already this year.
But should things continue to unfold like they have of late, a change really is going to be necessary. At the very least, all the positive vibes that were coming out of training camp have now dispersed.