Joe Flacco On The Eagles: 'They Have Some Dudes Up Front'

PHILADELPHIA - Set to enter his 18th NFL season, Joe Flacco returned to the Delaware Valley for joint practices with the Eagles as the favorite to be the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback in Week 1.

Part of that sentiment is tied to Flacco’s experience as a former Super Bowl winner with over 45,000 NFL passing yards, but the South Jersey native, who once starred at the University of Delaware, has also proven to be the most durable of Cleveland’s QB casting call at the tender age of 40.

Kenny Pickett, like Flacco, a former Eagles’ QB2, participated in 7-on-7 drills Wednesday but didn’t take part in full team periods as he works his way back from a hamstring injury suffered on July 26.

Rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel is back taking team reps after his own hamstring issue, and fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders injured his oblique while throwing early in practice Wednesday and was held out of team drills.

Flacco was asked about the injuries surrounding him after practice and handled it like, well an 18-year pro.

“We’re in that room together and we’re all doing things together, but when it comes out in this field, I’m not super worried about [the injuries].” … I’m focused on us getting better and us doing the best we can against Philly.”

The Eagles, of course, are coming off a season that ended with the Lombardi Trophy, and the Browns are trying to rebound from a three-win season, largely tied to the issues at QB.

None of the current group at Kevin Stefanski's disposal lived through the poor 2024 season. Flacco was in Indianapolis last season, Pickett with the Eagles winning a Super Bowl, while Gabriel and Sanders were finishing off their college careers as stars at Oregon and Colorado, respectively.

Working against an elite team like the Eagles can help, and also identify deficiencies, according to Flacco.

“Sometimes when you get in practices like this, I don’t know if you can truly say, ‘oh, man, we won today or we lost today.’ But you can find out about how tough guys are, the guys that stick it out, really stick their nose in there, step up to the occasion of playing against a good team and they’re not afraid to do it,” said Flacco.

“You don’t think that would happen at this level, where you get guys that get a little bit timid in certain situations, but, hey, there’s human nature in some things,” he continued. “So, I think you get to find out a lot about the mental makeup of your team in these environments.

“I think that was a good job for us today.”

The Eagles have had their own upheaval on the defensive side but Flacco still saw “some dudes up front.”

Eagles defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis get ready for post-practice interviews during training camp. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

“It’s such a small sample size,” he said. “They look like they have some dudes up front and they have some experience in the back end, whether that’s experience of years in the league or guys that have a good feel for the game, and they’re very well coached. I know that.

“So, they’ve got a lot of things going for them.”

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