Jets backup quarterback Joe Flacco will likely start for the team’s Week 1 matchup against his former team, the Baltimore Ravens.
Starting signal caller Zach Wilson suffered a torn meniscus and a bone bruise during the team’s opening preseason matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 12 while trying to extend a quarterback scramble.
Wilson underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery on Aug. 16, but the Jets have committed to avoid rushing their starter back to action.
That leaves Flacco as the team’s #1 quarterback, which will likely extend to their opening regular season game against the Ravens.
Flacco played for Baltimore for the first 10 years of his NFL career between 2008-2018, and served under center for the team’s Super Bowl run in 2013, for which he was awarded the game’s MVP trophy.
The 37-year-old first came to the Jets as a free agent on a 1-year, $1.5 million deal. He then signed with the Eagles, before being traded back to the Jets in October of 2021. He re-signed with Gang Green this offseason on a 1 year contract worth $3.5 million.
Head coach Robert Saleh had high praise for the veteran after Wilson’s injury, saying he could “start in this league.”
“He could start in this league, I believe that,” said Saleh. “Joe Flacco is a starting quarterback in this league.”
“We have all the faith in the world in Joe,” the coach said.
Flacco, meanwhile, said he was committed to his role as a backup, and pledged to tutor Wilson in his 2nd NFL season.
“That’s my role, and I embrace it,” Flacco told The New York Post. “It keeps you engaged, keeps you a part of the team. I’m not just willing to do it, but excited to do it.”
For more coverage of Joe Flacco and the Jets, head to amNY.com.
He added, though, that he believes he has the ability to be a first-stringer in the NFL.
“I still think I have that ability to start,’’ Flacco said. “It’s good to hear people say that — especially people that are close to the situation.”
Flacco started a total of 7 games with the Jets during his 2-year stint at MetLife Stadium, during which he posted a 57.4% completion percentage, while tossing 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
The veteran passer will get reps with the 1st stringers on Monday night, when the Jets will take on the Atlanta Falcons in a preseason game — though Saleh was noncommittal on how long he would leave the starters in.
“I’m torn on it,” Saleh said. “I wake up one day and say, ‘OK, they’re going to play.’ I wake up the next day and they’re not going to play.”
