WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) -Joe Flacco can’t help but smile when thinking back to how lost he was at his first NFL training camp.
“You don’t know anybody, you don’t know what to expect, you don’t really know the offense so you’re kind of scared of getting in there and messing up,” the Baltimore Ravens quarterback recalled Tuesday. “You feel like a freshman in college, a freshman in high school again.”
Drafted in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft, Flacco arrived in camp as the third-string quarterback. He became the starter late last summer after injuries to veterans Kyle Boller and Troy Smith. This year, Flacco sits atop the depth chart in camp after guiding Baltimore to the AFC championship game.
Flacco still has much to learn, but his comfort level has increased over the course of the past 12 months. Which explains why, on the opening day of his second training camp, Flacco laughed when asked how he would handle the sudden retirement of wide receiver Derrick Mason – his favorite target during a 2008 season.
no idea who I was going to be throwing the ball to. I didn’t know what Derrick Mason or Mark Clayton even looked like. I probably thought Mark Clayton was Derrick Mason at one point,” Flacco said. “So this year we’re in much better shape.”
Over the final 11 games of the regular season, Flacco led the Ravens on a 9-2 run while throwing 13 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. He then became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to win two playoff games.
The season ended with a three-interception performance in a loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC title game. During the offseason Flacco spent hours studying film and throwing passes to Clayton or just about anyone else willing to run a pass pattern.
Flacco still wears No. 5 and has a short-cropped haircut underneath his helmet, but he bears little resemblance to the bewildered rookie of a year ago.
“It’s like night and day,” quarterback coach Hue Jackson said. “He’s got 19 games under his belt. Our expectation as a coaching staff is that he’s going to play much better than he did last year. That’s what he expects of himself. There’s no question in my mind we should see a much improved player on the field.”
Clayton said Flacco really benefited from last season.
“You can see it in him. He’s not wide-eyed, like he was,” Clayton said. “He knows what to expect, therefore he can anticipate better.”
entative last summer. At first, his focus was to avoid making mistakes. Though Flacco failed to throw a touchdown pass in either of his first two games, he was steady enough to help Baltimore beat Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Three straight losses followed before Flacco shredded Miami, going 17 for 23 for 232 yards and a touchdown in a 27-13 win. He finished the season with a flourish, and expects to carry the momentum into 2009.
“I feel much more comfortable right now. I’m light years ahead of where I was last year at this point,” he said. “But toward the end of the season I obviously was feeling pretty good. My goal for the offseason was to make sure I continued with the process, continued to learn the offense and not take a step back.”
Flacco’s development remains a work in progress, as evidenced by his three interceptions against Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. But his poise isn’t an issue, which is why he’s earned the nickname Joe Cool.
“I’m not very cool, I’m laid back,” he insisted. “I don’t know if that’s a great name for me, but I’ll take it. My thing is to go out there and play football. I have fun when I’m out there.”
Flacco had a good time making a commercial for Reebok, in which he hits two soaring clay pigeons with footballs. Asked if he really hit the targets, Flacco coyly replied, “I’ll leave it up to your imagination.”
His parting words in the commercial, however, were very real.
“Last year,” he said, “was just the beginning.”
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