While he makes his return to Baltimore, Flacco has faced the Ravens once before as the quarterback for an opposing team. In 2022, Flacco faced the Ravens as a member of the Jets in the season opener, but the game was in East Rutherford, N.J. and didn’t give Flacco his Baltimore reunion. The Ravens beat the Jets 24-9 and Flacco had 300 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Flacco said that since he’s played the Ravens before, it will make the environment before the game feel a little bit more normal.
“I definitely think playing them in the past and getting that kind of getting that little bit out of the way, I do think that was probably – even though it wasn’t in Baltimore, like just from playing the Baltimore Ravens, like getting that out of the way already will make this a little bit easier,” Flacco said.
However, there will be some familiar faces in Baltimore that can make it feel like more than just another game. Flacco has family coming down from New Jersey to come watch the Browns play the Ravens. He said he also plans to head out of the Browns locker room 10 minutes earlier during warm-ups to connect with people from his time in Baltimore.
One of those people will be Harbaugh, who came into the league the same year as Flacco, getting his first NFL head coaching gig in 2008. Harbaugh in his first NFL draft as the Ravens head coach took a chance on Flacco, then just an FCS star out of Delaware, with the 18th overall pick and made him his quarterback in Baltimore for 11 seasons.
“It’s also pretty cool that we’re 18 years in and we’re still doing the same things,” Flacco said. “Anytime you’ve been through the stuff that we’ve been through, you have a pretty cool relationship.”