As the Cleveland Brownsn avigate the rest of this season without Deshaun Watson, the team is going to work out Joe Flacco as a potential depth option at quarterback.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Flacco is among the players being hosted by the Browns at a quarterback workout on Friday with the team “likely” to add someone to its practice squad.
The Browns announced earlier this week that Watson will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a broken bone he suffered in the first half of Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Browns head coach KevinStefanski announcedrookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will start Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker have started games this season when Watson was unable to play due to a previous shoulder injury.
The Browns are 1-2 in three games started by the two backups.
Neither quarterback has fared well when they have been thrust into action.
They have thrown for a combined 748 yards, one touchdown, eight interceptions and are completing 50.4 percent of their attempts.
A fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Thompson-Robinson made his first career start in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens.
He finished 19-of-36 for 121 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions in a 28-3 loss.
Flacco has been a free agent since the end of last season. He spent the previous three years with the New York Jets, making nine starts during that span.
The 38-year-old told ESPN’s Jamison Hensley prior to the start of the season that he hasn’t given any thought to retirement.
“Listen, I can still play. That’s me talking, obviously. I’m hoping that there’s the silver lining that I’m not anywhere right now and that I can be available to anybody.
I’m not saying it’s going to be the truth, but if I was tied up with somebody as a backup and just didn’t play at all when all of a sudden three guys go down, well, I’d probably be in the back of my head be thinking, ‘Oh, man, would I have had an opportunity to go there?’
“So I do think that at the point that my career is in, it is a positive thing in a lot of ways that I’m not anywhere right now, because if somebody does need somebody, at least I’m available.”
Flacco is a 15-year NFL veteran who is best known for his tenure with the Baltimore Ravens from 2008 to ’18. He led the team to six playoff appearances as their starting quarterback, including a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47.
The Ravens traded Flacco to the Denver Broncos prior to the 2019 season. He made eight starts during his one year in Denver before joining the Jets.
Cleveland is off to a 6-3 start this season and is attempting to make the postseason for the first time since 2020.
