Joe Burrow speaks at press conference after returning to practice
Joe Burrow speaks at press conference after returning to practice on Monday November 10, 2025.
Remove the nameplate off the back of Joe Flacco’s jersey and evaluate his short stint as Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback just on the raw numbers. What do you see and what strikes you about that player?
The four-game sample is small, sure, and that player has two elite options at wide receiver. But 63.7% of his passe have been completed. He has 11 touchdowns against just two interceptions, and 1,254 passing yards.
That looks more like an effective player in his prime than a 40-year-old who has enjoyed a late-career surge as a kind of roving quarterback-room fixer for AFC teams struggling at that position to one degree or another.
While Flacco’s impressed with Cincinnati in 2025, he could soon be facing the bench with Joe Burrow now literally and figuratively on the clock to return. Burrow could be starting again in the coming weeks and even if that doesn’t come to fruition, Flacco isn’t in the Bengals‘ long-term plans.
With the NFL now in the second half of the 2025 season, Flacco on Nov. 12 discussed Burrow’s return to the practice fields, as well as his future in football. Those subjects and others came up during one of Flacco’s trademark thought-provoking news conferences at Paycor Stadium.
For now, Flacco said he isn’t thinking about the personal implications of a Burrow return.
“I don’t know. I think backups probably do (this) a good amount where they know like, ‘Hey, this guy’s coming back, he’s got a three-week injury’ or whatever it is,” Flacco said. “I’m honestly not really thinking about it. It’s not really a part of my process. I really don’t care. It’s this week and that’s all that matters. I think to think about that stuff would be a distraction. It’s not really something I’m worried about. Like I said, I’m just worried about doing my job. And this week’s that’s going out and playing against Pittsburgh.”
Still, football mortality is a real thing and Flacco’s faced that reality previously in his career.
“It definitely came across my mind several different times in my career, whether it was like, fear of, ‘Man, am I ever gonna play again?’ Or myself saying, ‘What the hell am I doing? Am I even having fun?,’ ” Flacco said. “Those thoughts have all come into my mind, and I’ve dealt with them all at some point… I think I know enough now to just kind of go play and when those things do come in your head, don’t let them affect you in a negative way. It’s probably a pretty natural thought for those things to come into your head a little bit.”
On a long enough timeline, the mortality rate for all NFL careers is 100%. Flacco knows that, and the thoughts of knocking on retirement’s door have crept into his head several times. He’s not there yet with the Bengals, though.
Flacco said being on the field gives him a sense of belonging. A return to the bench might not be so welcome in that regard, but he has that belonging at this moment. He seems content to focus on that.
“I don’t think I’ve given it too much thought as to how long I’m going to play. It’s what I’ve always done. I just kind of view myself as playing,” Flacco said. “I think anytime you’re playing the game here − let’s put it this way, I think when you aren’t on the field, there’s times where it does, it’s hard. It’s harder to stay in the moment. And there’s times where it can creep into your head, like, ‘man, what am I doing? Like, this isn’t that fun. I’m not this isn’t that much fun. I’m not even playing.’ And you have to find ways to battle through that, because you love the game, and it means something to me.
“It still means something to me when I’m not playing, but it is harder to get in that, like, frame of mind where you know, like you’re just loving it, and then, so I don’t think there’s like an extra reminder when you are playing, but you just get back in that mode of playing football, and you’re, you know, it’s what you love to do. So, of course, you’re having fun doing it.
“So, I’m not necessarily thinking about has it re energized me to want to play longer? But it gives you that feeling like, I belong here. This is what I want to do. This is what I belong doing. And, yeah, that’s why it is different when you’re out there. But like I said, I think overall, I try not to think about, I guess, how long I’m going to play it. It’s just what you do. And you’re definitely better off mentally when you’re out there.”