Some may wonder if such a reality might negatively affect the dynamic between Burrow and Flacco, and if it could poison a Bengals locker room that is already dealing with its own strife thanks to the failures of their sieve-like defense.
Flacco downplayed such concerns, pointing toward the benefit of sharing a room with a signal-caller owning plenty of experience leading Zac Taylor’s offense.
“Listen, I think you can probably make too much about that honestly,” Flacco said. “I mean, listen, we’re just two quarterbacks sitting in a room, and it’s not like we’re doing anything groundbreaking in there. We’re two quarterbacks in a room just like any other two quarterbacks for the most part. I think, like I said, for me, still being new in the offense, and it’s not just him, it’s also Jake (Browning). I’m still at the point where you’re able to kind of see the operation of things and kind of bounce little questions like that off those guys. I think that’s still the biggest thing.
“But if I can kinda understand where they’re coming from, it makes it a little easier for me. … (Burrow)’s been great to have in the room just because he’s been operating in this offense and actually been out there doing it for however many years now. So it’s always nice to be able to see … the operation of how he may do things.”
The operation has been stellar since Flacco took over in Week 6. The seasoned veteran has averaged 313.5 passing yards per game, posted a 102.6 passer rating and owns an 11-2 TD-INT ratio in four contests, keeping the Bengals in every matchup with his arm. It’s Flacco’s latest attempt to rescue a team with playoff ambitions and lead them to the postseason, but unlike his magical run in Cleveland in 2023, he cannot compensate for Cincinnati’s awful defense.
If Flacco wants to complete his 18th NFL season with another storybook journey to the playoffs, he may need to put the team on his back to do it. Cincinnati will hope he can keep its hopes afloat until Burrow is ready to return next month.