Flacco defensive about wife’s criticism
Tight end Hurst working on ‘stuff I’ve got to clean up;’ Pierce still not practicing
In 11 years with the Ravens and in the NFL, Joe Flacco has caught only two passes for a grand total of 35 yards. And that’s OK, because the quarterback gets paid to throw the ball, not catch it.
This season, Flacco has been lining up at wide receiver more frequently as the offense has been giving rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson snaps here and there under center or in the shotgun. Flacco’s attitude about the tactic can be best described as indifferent as he does not get off the line of scrimmage and usually just stands still until the play is over.
Flacco’s disinterest in even pretending to make an effort caught the attention of one of his biggest fans — his wife, Dana.
“I think I’ve told a few of you guys, but my wife gave me crap the one day and told me I needed to look more interested out there,” he said Wednesday. “But I’m just trying to stay out of it. I’m not comfortable out there. I haven’t been out there in a very long time. So I don’t need to try to get too creative. I mess around in practice a little bit, but that’s about it.”
Flacco has a point. There aren’t too many 6-foot-6, 245-pound wide receivers in the league, and he is not earning $12 million in base salary this season for his ability to run a double move against a Cover 2 zone.
Flacco said he has not lined up at wideout since he started playing football “in seventh or eighth grade.” Asked whether he will have a chance to make his first catch since Oct. 24, 2011, he joked, “I sure hope not.”
“Hey, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done,” he said. “But like I said, I sure hope I don’t have to do that.”
Running back Alex Collins speculated that there’s a method to Flacco’s laissezfaire approach to playing receiver.
“He’s just luring defenses to sleep,” he said. “I know he said he was afraid earlier, but he might be catching some passes if they’re not paying attention to him. So that’s a good thing. Let him keep tricking them over there.” TE Hurst getting up to speed: Hayden Hurst’s NFL debut in the Ravens’ 12-9 overtime loss at the Cleveland Browns on Sunday might not have been as successful as he had hoped, but the rookie tight end was happy for the opportunity to shake off some rust.
“Just getting used to the game speed again,” Hurst said of the biggest challenge he faced after being sidelined for the first Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco took some heat from his wife, Dana, for his posture when he lines up as a wide receiver. month of the regular season after undergoing surgery Aug. 24 to repair a stress fracture in his foot. “Preseason speed and regular-season speed are different, different beasts. I felt like I did pretty good, handled everything pretty well. But again, there’s stuff I’ve got to clean up.”
Hurst, the organization’s first of two first-round picks in April’s NFL draft and the first tight end selected overall, was targeted twice and caught one pass for seven yards on 21 snaps. His playing time trailed those of fellow tight ends Nick Boyle (39 snaps), fellow rookie Mark Andrews (33) and Maxx Williams (27).
While expressing hope that his workload will increase in Sunday’s game at the Tennessee Titans, Hurst said offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and his staff will make the final call.
“Those were the plays that were called, and I’m going to run my routes and whatever I need to do to help the team win,” he said. “If it’s me blocking, if it’s me running two routes, that’s what I’ll do.” Pierce feeling ‘good,’ but not practicing: Nose tackle Michael Pierce walked around the team’s locker room Wednesday morning without the boot he wore on his right foot on the sideline of Sunday’s game, the second in three weeks for which he was deactivated.
Asked how he felt, Pierce replied, “I’m good.” But he followed that up by acknowledging that he would not participate in practice later that afternoon.
Besides Pierce, cornerbacks Brandon Carr (knee) and rookie Anthony Averett (hamstring), wide receiver John Brown (not injury related), defensive back Anthony Levine Sr. (hamstring), free safety Eric Weddle (not injury related) and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs (not injury related) did not practice, according to the team’s injury report.
Outside linebacker Tim Williams returned to practice with his right hamstring wrapped after sitting out last week’s stretch of practices and being ruled out against the Browns. He was limited Wednesday, as was rookie running back De’Lance Turner, who left practice early with a hamstring ailment. Extra points: Running back Alex Collins, who wore a brace on his right knee during practice, declined to link the injury to his underwhelming numbers of 57 carries for 217 yards and two touchdowns. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it limited my ability because I play through injury or [even] if it’s bothering me a little bit,” he said. “If I can go full-speed or full-go, it may limit me a little bit, but I wouldn’t let it hold me back. … They were just wanting to make sure that I would be able to go full-go on Sunday, and it wouldn’t bother me and just protecting it a little bit. It just bothered me a little bit, but not too bad.” … When middle linebacker C.J. Mosley and Titans running back Derrick Henry clash Sunday, it will be a meeting of two former Alabama standouts. But Mosley, whose senior season in 2013 was Henry’s freshman year, is still a little miffed that he was unable to bring down Henry on a pass play that helped Tennessee convert a third-and-3 in the fourth quarter of a 23-20 win Nov. 5, 2017. “I still owe him from last year because they had a big third-down conversion at the end of the game,” Mosley recalled. “I tried to knock down the stiff arm, and he broke the tackle on me. I have to make sure that this time, I don’t let him get a big play. But it’s always fun watching former teammates, especially going against them on the offensive side because you don’t really get to play against them as hard as you can [in practice]. It’s always a good thing seeing your former teammates in the league.”