CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Joe Flacco will start Sunday for the Browns in Los Angeles against the Rams with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson ruled out.
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Flacco time – Two weeks ago Flacco worked out for the Browns. Friday afternoon he was named the starting quarterback against the Rams. He is the fourth starter head coach Kevin Stefanski has had to prepare to use this season and eighth overall since Stefanski took the job in 2020. “I think Joe is a good grasp of our system, of what we're trying to do,” Stefanski told reporters in L.A. “We have 48 hours here, so we'll meet some more and make sure he has all the answers that he needs.” A 16-year veteran and former Super Bowl MVP, Flacco becomes the 37th starter in the post 1999 expansion era. Flacco will try to become the fourth quarterback to win a game this season for the Browns, who enter the week 7-4 and in the second Wild Card and No. 6 seed in the AFC. “Joe's a pro. I've been around pros. He's right up there,” Stefanski said. “He does his he's very intelligent. So a lot of time in that meeting room with Joe and AVP [Alex Van Pelt] this week and making sure he's comfortable and he can talk through it just because he's been in so many different systems. He's had so much experience in this league, so I think he leans on that experience, certainly in a situation like this.” This isn’t the first time during a season the Browns have had to go four deep at quarterback. In 2008 the Browns started Derek Anderson, Ken Dorsey, Brady Quinn and Bruce Gradkowski during a 4-12 campaign. In 1988 that saw them go 9-7 and make the playoffs they started Bernie Kosar, Don Strock, Gary Danielson and Mike Pagel.
Reunited – Flacco will have a familiar face available to catch footballs Sunday – receiver Elijah Moore, who was acquired from the Jets in March. “It's like a family reunion,” Moore said. “Whenever he came, I had sent him a text. It was like this little joke, like us reconnecting. It was this joke, like an old guy coming back to his old high school and students and the teachers switched and they just do this little handshake. But I'm super excited to see Joe back out there. I know that he's happy to be in an environment where he's working hard again. He's around familiar faces. So that was what he said to me, and I'm just happy to see him happy.” The dynamic playmaking expected of Moore this season has yet to materialize but could Flacco be the one to bring out the best in Moore amid all the QB injuries? “I've been going through this all my years in the league and even in college,” Moore said. “So it's just what the game has become. You got good defensive players that hurt guys like that. And it's becoming a game where it's very physical at all aspects. So it's always next man up.”
X-man – Defensive end Myles Garrett is giving it a go Sunday after suffering a left shoulder injury in the loss to the Broncos in Denver. “As my PT [personal trainer] would say, got Wolverine blood,” Garrett said, “and thanks to other staff here and my health and wellness team, it’s culminated me getting back on the field sooner than maybe some would have expected and being able to feel good going into this weekend. So really, thanks for them.” Garrett told reporters he doesn’t anticipate being limited by the injury, which he also said is unrelated to the one suffered last year in a car accident, but the pain was recognizable. “It was pretty similar to probably right after the incident,” Garrett said. “But fortunately we hopped on it… But obviously, as you saw, it was painful.” Garrett is a half sack behind Steelers rusher T.J. Watt, who has 13.5 of them and is trying to wrestle away the defensive player of the year conversation, but MVP for Watt, Garrett or Aaron Donald is not in the cards. “We don't score a touchdown,” Garrett said. “We're not directly correlated to the points unless you pick up a fumble and you score it or you catch a pick, you get a strip sack and scoop it up. Whatever it is, you're not in complete control of the game pretty much every play, like a quarterback is. Always going to be held against us. As much as we do our best to stop what the opposing offense doing, what the opposing quarterback is doing, taking them out the game, they continue to get the votes. But if a quarterback is having a great year, that's understandable. Defensive player is having a good year or a great year, he should be respected and treated with the same kind of praise.”
Ward out – Cornerback Denzel Ward will miss his second straight game due to a shoulder injury. Ward was idle at practice all week. Greg Newsome II struggled last week in Denver with Ward out but Stefanski is confident Newsome will look like himself this Sunday. “I have a ton of confidence in Greg,” Stefanski said. “He's a good football player. He's made a ton of plays for us in his career as a corner. At times, you're going to get beat. That's occupational hazard, but he'll bounce back.”
Friday news dump – Browns receiver Michael Woods II was suspended for the final six games of the season for violating the personal conduct policy the NFL announced Friday afternoon. No reason was given for Woods’ suspension. Woods has been on the reserve-non-football injury list since August after tearing his Achilles in April while training. Woods caught five passes for 45 yards in 10 games as a rookie in 2022.
Injury report – OUT: CB Denzel Ward (shoulder), QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (concussion), WR Marquise Goodwin (concussion); QUESTIONABLE: C Nick Harris (knee); EXPECTED TO PLAY: DE Myles Garrett (shoulder), LB Anthony Walker (hamstring), LG Joel Bitonio (rest/knee), WR Amari Cooper (rest/ribs), RB Kareem Hunt (groin), RG Wyatt Teller (calf), S Juan Thornhill (calf), OT Geron Christian (finger), DT Jordan Elliott (ankle), CB Michael Ford (ribs), TE David Njoku (rest/knee), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (groin), LB Sione takitaki (knee)
