Joe Flacco and Ja'Marr Chase React to Mike Tomlin's Comments About Trade

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are hoping the Joe Flacco trade will help turnaround a season that has gone off the rails without Joe Burrow.

The Bengals traded for the veteran last week after dropping three-straight games by a combined score of 113-27.

They lost to the Packers in Flacco's first start, but the 27-18 loss has given Cincinnati some new life ahead of Thursday's game against Pittsburgh. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wasn't shy about his feelings when asked about the Browns trading Flacco to the Bengals.

"To be honest, it (the trade) was shocking to me. Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us," Tomlin said. "Because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area. But that’s just my personal feelings."

Flacco was asked about the comments on Tuesday.

“I didn’t get to see how upset he was, but you know I think he’s probably just playing the game a little bit and you know doing whatever he has to do,” Flacco said with a laugh.

The veteran completed 29-of-45 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers. He was able to get the ball to the Bengals' playmakers and their offense certainly looks much different with Flacco at quarterback compared to what things looked like with Jake Browning under center.

"Not really," Ja'Marr Chase said when asked if he cared about Tomlin's comments. "It's not negative or positive at the end of the day ... I kept scrolling."

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had an even shorter response to the comments:

"I was happy," Taylor said with a big smile and a shrug. "I was happy. That's my only comment."

The Bengals enter Thursday's game with a 2-4 record. A win would make them 2-0 in the AFC North and give them renewed life with the Steelers leading the division at 4-1. A loss would put their season in jeopardy, just five weeks after Burrow's turf toe injury.

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