Joe Flacco Opens Up About His Time With Bengals, Bond With Joe Burrow

The Bengals got a breath of fresh air injected into their offense when they traded for Joe Flacco in October. While the team failed to win, Flacco played some of the most electric football of his career.

He's set to become a free agent this offseason. Could he return and be Burrow's backup?

Flacco recently appeared on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. He discussed his time in Cincinnati and made it clear that he loved his time with the Bengals from throwing to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, to getting to connect with Joe Burrow and the locker room.

"The good thing about being in Cincinnati was the locker room was able to embrace me pretty quickly, and they got some really good players and some really good coaches.” Flacco said. “That allowed my transition to happen so seamlessly and allowed me to feel part of that locker room that I was able to go out on the field and just at least be myself and not worry about too much other than that."

Flacco loved having Chase, Higgins and the rest of the Bengals weapons. He had fun on the field and certainly enjoyed the Bengals offense.

"Throwing to Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, handing off to Chase Brown. That wasn't too bad of a gig. Joe I learned it was a lot of fun to be in a room with him. You know be a part of that quarterback room.” Flacco said. “We've been watching him play for long enough now, we kind of know what his ability is about, but his ability to just play at his own pace and, not let the game speed him up, that's kind of what you see when you tend to see really good quarterbacks and to see it up close and personal was definitely kind of confirmed those things."

Relationship With Burrow

Jan 4, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) looks to pass against the Cleveland Browns during the second half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Flacco dove deeper into not only how great a player Burrow is, but also how interesting the Bengals star is—both on and off the field.

"He's able to play at his own pace, not allow the defense to speed him up, you know, and then obviously he has that ability to make the off schedule play when the initial thing isn't there.” Flacco said. "He's an interesting guy and I think quarterback rooms are I think unique in terms of the National Football League because, you have one guy that you're truly preparing. Even though you think about the quarterbacks as like this group of guys that's like just constantly preparing, preparing, preparing, we probably have a little bit more free time in our meetings than any other position group. So, we get to kind of, you get to shoot the breeze, I guess, and talk about things other than football a little bit and he's interesting."

It's no secret that Burrow is a private person, but Flacco got comfortable with him quickly.

"Even though I was a kind of a new guy showing up, I think he was able to be himself in that environment, as we all are, it's a good spot to just kind of let it loose and kind of talk about whatever at times," Flacco said. "And throughout the course of a week and then throughout the course of 15 weeks, you build those relationships and you have a lot of fun together."

No matter what happens with Flacco in free agency, he has left a great mark that will always be remembered by Bengals players, coaches and fans.

Check out the clip below and watch the full interview here.

From the @UpAndAdamsShow with @heykayadams

Joe Flacco with some high praise for the Bengals and a look back on what his time with stars Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Burrow, and Chase Brown were like!

How can you not love Flacco? pic.twitter.com/hwAbHr4nGC
— Landon Belote (@Landon_Belote) February 2, 2026

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