Flacco under gun at Ravens training camp

Baltimore took Heisman winner with first pick

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Joe Flacco stood at the microphone on Friday afternoon as Baltimore’s starting quarterback, the face of the franchise, knowing everyone in front of him might not believe he would hold those titles for long.

The 33-year-old has started every year since the Ravens selected him in the first round of the 2008 draft, and his magical run in 2012 handed the franchise its second Super Bowl. In May, the Ravens drafted a quarterback in the first round for the first time since Flacco when they traded up to take Louisville phenom Lamar Jackson, the youngest Heisman Trophy winner ever. The grizzled gunslinger has faced intense scrutiny on how he’ll handle playing alongside a hungry rookie.

“I’m taking it as I always take it,” Flacco said after the second day of Ravens training camp. “I’m working hard . ... Obviously everybody, whether they felt good or bad about (Lamar getting drafted), there was a certain feeling, and you can’t hide that.”

The pressure only builds because last season Baltimore missed the playoffs for the third straight year. The success of the 2012 season — both for the team and for Flacco — has continued to slip further away in the rearview mirror.

One reporter told Flacco his teammates said he seemed different this year, as if he had more passion. Was that new fire linked to Jackson’s arrival?

“Does it matter what I say?” Flacco said, grinning. “You guys will probably link it to Lamar anyway.”

As he spoke, he appeared to be grappling with his teammates’ apparent perception. He ultimately concluded the likeliest reason the reporter received that analysis was because he interviewed some new players.

Of the 19 wide receivers and tight ends on the training camp roster, 12 of them were acquired this off-season.

Flacco was asked if he thought the questions about Jackson would ever get “annoying.” Flacco answered without hesitating.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “I think we’re going to win and we’re not going to hear about it.”

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson throws a pass during a training camp practice at the team’s headquarters in Owings Mills, Md.