Joe Flacco didn’t practice Wednesday and is 50-50 for Sunday’s game against the Bears (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) at Paycor Stadium as Bengals head coach Zac Taylor says he deals with an injured throwing shoulder.
At the IEL Indoor Facility to get away from the rain, backup Jake Browning took the first reps for the first time since the Bengals pulled off the Oct. 7 trade with Cleveland for Flacco.
Taylor wouldn’t rule out Flacco as a starter or as a backup for Chicago (“We’ll see as we get through the week”), and came away impressed with Flacco’s desire to make his fourth Bengals start in the last game before the Nov. 9 bye.
“He wasn’t here in the offseason. He wasn’t invested in our training camp,” Taylor said. “It would be easy to make a decision that there’s no way I’m playing. I’ve got an AC joint, we’ve got a bye week next week, so let’s just let this thing heal up. That has not been the communication he’s given to me at all.
“Ultimately, he may not be able to play, we may make that decision. For him just to want to put it out there for our team, himself, like he said before, he’s just a football player, that’s what he does. That certainly goes a long way with me.”
Here’s why Taylor thinks they’d be OK if Flacco could play on Sunday even if he didn’t practice much. In three games, Flacco has posted a 100.1 passer rating and thrown for 754 yards, fifth most in the league during the last three weeks:
“You’ve seen what he’s done. Came in and played on a Thursday after three days of practice, so I think if anybody in this league can get by on minimal reps right now, it’s him.”