Joe Flacco says his main job is to play football, not mentor Jalen Hurts

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Eagles quarterback Joe Flacco may serve as a veteran mentor to Jalen Hurts, but that’s not the primary reason he signed in Philadelphia.

Flacco told reporters today that while he’d like to think he and Hurts can make each other better, he was brought in to play football, not to serve as a mentor.

“Your goal as a football player is to show people around you that you can play football,” Flacco said, via Martin Frank of the Delaware News Journal.

Flacco said he and Hurts exchanged texts and are excited to be working together, and he said the Eagles have not told him whether he’s competing for a starting job or not.

Realistically, it’s extremely unlikely that Flacco could start as long as Hurts is healthy. Flacco isn’t the quarterbacks coach, but he’s the kind of veteran quarterback who usually joins a team that wants someone around who can make the young starter better, but not unseat him.

77 responses to “Joe Flacco says his main job is to play football, not mentor Jalen Hurts

  1. I respect his competitive nature but his comments come off as crass. He didn’t like helping Jackson in Bal or Donald in NY, so its like any of us expected him to be a player-coach like McCown was. But you would hope for more maturity from someone entering the twilight of their (mediocre?) career.

  2. Eagles Ownership and Management are not very smart. Why would you sign a QB with that attitude, when you have a young QB? Makes no sense.

  3. That was Joe’s attitude in Baltimore also towards LJ. Will be interesting to see how the Philly media and fans handle things if Hurts struggles.

  4. Mr 9 to 5 rears his ugly head. Yes, Joe Flacco won a super bowl with a brilliant string of post season performances and broke the bank afterwards. Once the contract was signed his level of play was subpar at best and borderline AAF qb performances. Joe never was football passionate guy. He never put in the hours with his receivers like the elite qb’s do! Joe was a 9 to 5 quarterback. He treated it like a factory job 9am to 5pm. No Joe is not elite. He had an elite run in the 2012 postseason. Mr 9 to 5

  5. “and he said the Eagles have not told him whether he’s competing for a starting job or not.”

    Kind of interesting. Don’t these things tend to come up in conversation?

  6. I guess the Eagles brain trust should have asked Flacco if he was up to mentoring Jalen. Btw Joe you won’t be starting.

  7. It sounds like Jalen Hurts didn’t have a temper tantrum when they signed Flacco. The same couldn’t be said for Wentz when they drafted Hurts. The Eagles will be better for getting rid of Wentz and his bloated contract. Good riddance. Frank Reich is going to be disappointed about how mentally weak Wentz is.

  8. lol Joe Flacco know your role, you are a backup and probably will retire after you eventually get cut

  9. If the Eagles were looking for someone to be a mentor, perhaps they should have traded for Nick Foles.

    Penny wise and pound foolish.

  10. I agree with him. I never understood why any player had to be a mentor to another player. That’s not his job, that should be part of what they pay coaches to do.

  11. Aging QBs who still think they have it often are like this.
    I remember back in 1977 after Tarkenton broke his leg, and the following year was asked about preparing Tommy Kramer for the eventual job said “I don’t train Quarterbacks”

  12. Flacco hit bottom in Denver, after years of decline in Baltimore. He is a sure bet not to make it to the HOF, despite winning a ring.

  13. Flacco is stating the obvious: he is a better pro QB than Jalen Hurts. You can’t mentor an inferior talent. Mr. 52 percent completion rate is prone to getting benched. And, that is why Flacco signed with the Eagles. They give him the best chance to start.

  14. patrickmahomesblockedme says:
    March 25, 2021 at 10:47 am
    Eagles Ownership and Management are not very smart. Why would you sign a QB with that attitude, when you have a young QB? Makes no sense.

    —-

    Perhaps they signed him to be their starting QB

  15. This is who Flacco has ALWAYS been. I don’t know what he’s like in the QB room or at practice or behind the scenes but he has NEVER been the “let me help the young guy” anywhere along the way. At least not publicly. I understand the move for the Iggles wanting a veteran backup, but his skill set is so far removed from Hurts that it’s not really a comparable switch if Jalen goes down. They can’t run the same offense with Flacco. I was surprised they did not go hard for Mariota as he would be a better fit with Hurts and is an all-around SUPER nice guy.

  16. Bears or Eagles – which franchise mismanages the QB position more? It’s hard to tell.

  17. Flacco still has a live arm. He still likes to throw those short checkdown darts but when he opens it up its still a laser beam

  18. Good for Joe. He can still sling it. And this isn’t saying much, at all, but he outplayed Darnold last year. Hurts has promise, but has proved NOTHING.

  19. As others have said – wouldn’t the Eagles have discussed this with him before signing? My take is that QBs are supposed to be leaders – so a veteran QB who decides he doesn’t want to lead – or at least set an example in the QB room (leadership of a sort) – isn’t a great asset.

    And, if the Eagles brought him in because they feel he’s a better starting prospect than Hurts…well, then the front office is just showing the world how bad they are at their jobs – both with the drafting of Hurts and the signing of Flacco – because Flacco is not any kind of franchise savior, and Hurts should be the favorite (meaning, the young draftee should be considered the future, not the mediocre veteran).

  20. What on earth would the Eagles want ole Joe to mentor Hurts on?? Throwing jump balls and imitating a statue?? Hurts has an entirely different skill set and plays an entirely different style than JBJ

    Flacco is just a cheap insurance policy.

  21. This is great for the Eagles! He’s better than Hurts is now and he should be the starter, let the kid watch a real pro.

  22. Joe will sit on the bench, by himself, looking totally disinterested in the game. If called upon, he will take unnecessary sacks and throw horrible passes into double coverage. Philly made a terrible mistake signing this has been. He’s the last person you would want mentoring a young QB.

  23. The only way this guy plays is if Hurts…well, hurts. He was a jerk to Lamar Jackson, a jerk to Drew Lock, a jerk to Sam Darnold, and Im pretty sure will be a jerk to Jalen Hurts. Denver and even the Jets were thrilled to get rid of this guy. I understand you want to start, but know your role. Say yeah, excited to compete with Hurts for the starting spot and we will do whatever we can to make each other better…not that hard.

  24. He had the same attitude in Baltimore and in Denver with Drew Lock. He isn’t a mentor type at all….more of a collect a check kinda guy.

  25. I respect his competitive nature but his comments come off as crass. He didn’t like helping Jackson in Bal or Donald in NY, so its like any of us expected him to be a player-coach like McCown was. But you would hope for more maturity from someone entering the twilight of their (mediocre?) career.

    ———————————————
    How many Superbowl MVP’s are walking around? How many Superbowl Champs are out there who EARNED their large contract on the last year of their rookie deal. Not to mention playoff wins, winning seasons and being the only QB/team who Beat the goat in the playoffs. Joe Flacco is a winner and will be in the Ravens Hall of Fame to be remembered forever. Jalen Hurts best case is to achieve half of Joe’s success in the NFL.

  26. You hire a coach, trainer, counselor, or advisor to help mentor and develop a QB.

    You hire a QB to play football.

  27. Not sure why this turns people off. He’s not the QB coach, he’s the backup QB. His job is to prepare himself each week as if he’s the starter so that if he has to go in, he’s ready.

    Now, he can certainly set a good example for younger QBs in how he trains, preps, watches film, etc. But he doesn’t have to take anyone under his wing. Some older players like to do that, others don’t.

    Not everyone is a good teacher/mentor. It’s obviously just not Joe’s thing.

  28. When called on he’ll be a respectable QB if the Offensive Line is solid. If the pocket is not there Joe will struggle. He wants to play, not be a player/coach – so don’t expect a lot of team-speak from Flacco.

  29. lifelongwhodat says: “I understand you want to start, but know your role.”
    —————–

    Wow, did you say that about Brady as backup to Drew Bledsoe or, you know, Jalen Hurts as backup to Carson Wentz?

    How about Russell Wilson when he was supposed to be the 3rd string QB behind Matt Flynn and Tavarius Jackson?

  30. Fans : players should tell us the truth. Player : ok the truth is XXX. Fans : You need to be a team player and say the right thing lol

    Tyrod Taylor was Joe’s back up for 5 years and they had a great relationship and Tyrod is still in the league. Its on the young QB to learn to work with Joe, not the other way around. Same thing with Brett Favre and Rodgers, Hasselbeck etc

  31. So, we know Joe Flacco is not a mentor. More importantly though, is Joe Flacco elite?

  32. rkt4mayor says:
    March 25, 2021 at 11:24 am
    Flacco is stating the obvious: he is a better pro QB than Jalen Hurts. You can’t mentor an inferior talent. Mr. 52 percent completion rate is prone to getting benched. And, that is why Flacco signed with the Eagles. They give him the best chance to start.
    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    Mr. 55 percent 2020 completion rate wasn’t much better than the rookie he’s about to back up!

  33. lol as a giants fan i sure hope he starts…the games i saw him play for the jets were hilarious

  34. He has said the same comments for every team he was on previous. Probably the kind of player that will hold back advice because he feels he is competing to start. Philly seems to love this stuff

  35. You are getting hired for your experience.
    You should ba able to point things out in the film room
    Your words hit different on the sideline than a coaches words.
    You should also be able to share tendencies of other players-This one is easy to look off and falls for it every time. This one baits you so he might look like his guy is open when he’s not.
    So and so always…when he is blitzing.

  36. At one point, Flacco was a highly overrated QB, but now he’s underrated, and I don’t understand why so many people disrespect him. He’s not going to lead anyone to a Super Bowl at this point in his career, but he is a better QB than Hurts is right now. He’s old, and he’s not the future, so he’ll start the year on the bench. But if we’re all honest about Hurts, Flacco will see plenty of playing time this year. The Eagles won’t win a lot of games this year with either one playing, so it doesn’t really matter. But I don’t really think Hurts is an NFL quality QB, and Flacco is. He’s just not a top one, and at his age, he’s not going to be offered starting jobs any more, but that doesn’t mean he’s not better than the guy he is playing behind. Just that the guy he is playing behind is younger and more “promising.”

  37. I hate these headlines. Listen to the actual interview. It’s not that bad as it is made out to be. He said everyone in the QBs room helps each other.

  38. The word is out in the NFL that Hurts is a backstabber and Flacco is very aware of that.

  39. I think we all know at this point what level of football Joe’s brining, so might help him to change the attitude about mentoring a little.

  40. Good for Joe Flacco for stating the obvious. Philly should be glad that there is at least one alpha in the QB room.

  41. Well. Joe’s hidden nothing. He’s shown who he is. Show him the money, and he’ll do what he’s supposed to do and no more. Much better all round. Hurts knows what he needs to do. So does Flacco. It’s down to Hurts to make the most of this opportunity.

  42. This 9 to 5 attitude is exactly why there’s always been a strong contingent of Ravens fans who were not a fan of this guy, ever after the Super Bowl. Oh and he also was never a very good QB.

  43. His first 7 years in the NFL – before the ACL/MCL tear and subsequent neck and back injuries, Joe Flacco never QB’d a losing season and did not miss a game due to injury. Only Brady, Ben and Rodgers QB’d more wins over that span, and only Brady had more overall playoff wins. Flacco actually won at a better clip than QBs like Rivers and Brees over the same time frame. In that time he also delivered six playoff appearances, 10 playoff wins (more than Rogers and Brees in that same time span), 3 AFC championship appearances, a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl win with MVP. This tired story the Flacco was only good for four games is demonstrably false. He is only QB to beat Brady (twice), Ben and Peyton in the playoffs, and the fact that all of those wins were on the road makes it even more impressive. He was money in the biggest games. The Ravens drafted his succession plan and have not missed a beat with 2 division titles and 3 playoff appearances. They made the right move to get younger at the right time at QB (which the Steelers have failed to do and it is going to bite them harshly this year). Joe handled his demotion to Lamar with a lot of class, and said all the right things in the press. He bounced to two dismal teams in the Broncos and Jets (and did not play too badly for the Jets) and great to see him get a shot with his hometown team The Eagles. He is never going to be a rah-rah player mentor – but he is also not going to whine and complain about playing time if he is not starting – the Eagles know what they are getting.

  44. Joe, maybe it’s better that way, since you’re not that great a QB anyway. You had one good year. You didn’t exactly set the world on fire after that, when you got paid.

  45. kennylc629 says:
    March 25, 2021 at 10:52 am

    “and he said the Eagles have not told him whether he’s competing for a starting job or not.”

    Kind of interesting. Don’t these things tend to come up in conversation?

    ////////

    It’s all about the Benjimins. 😉

  46. What a bag! Team pays you 3 million to hold a clipboard, and he doesn’t want to encourage/teach/mentor Hurts…

  47. Flacco last year (80.6 rat, 55.5 comp %, 6td/3int, 1 fumble in 4 starts) Hurts last year (64.7 QB rat, 41.3 comp %, 6td/4int, 6 fumbles in 4 starts). Flacco never said he was against mentoring Hurts and the Eagles had to know his feelings before signing him. What backup doesn’t want to compete? Flacco started 4 games last year and wasn’t that bad for arguably the worst team, the Jets. This also could be a diversion to light a fire under Hurts because if you struggle to keep your job against Flacco, you are not cut out to be a full time starter.

  48. Sorry Joe, you used that line with Lamar, Lock and now Jalen. You should really say I’m here to get paid way too much money for crappy second rate play and then I’ll be replaced….yet again.

  49. For those who are criticizing him for being a competitor and not telling the media he is a mentor, you must not have played competitive sports in your life. Noone signs a contract in the NFL and doesn’t want to play(except maybe Chase Daniels, 20 years, and about 10 passes, lol). In reality, Joe knows that he is the backup, unless disaster occurs, but he also believes in himself as a Super Bowl winning QB, so he’s not coming into the press conference and telling anyone he’s there as a mentor. That is the coach’s job. He will, however, help Jalen’s learning period move more quickly and point out his mistakes, etc. Advice any good teammate would do for one another.

  50. Wrong impressions can be broadcast if you don’t listen to his comments in context. He said that, on a football team, all QBs support each other in a collaborative team environment, and also by competition. It was actually the opposite of what people are taking from it. To suggest that he is a “mentor” was to suggest he had something to teach, which I’m sure he does, but he didn’t seem to want to project that. Rather, he said he wanted to just be part of a team working towards a common goal and show his teammates they can have confidence in him as a football player. It was very professional and appropriate.

  51. This was a bad signing for a young QB in Hurts, Flacco still thinks he can play and won’t help or tutor Hurts. I remember how he was with Jackson the Eagles would have been better off signing a Colt McCoy who knows and accepts who he is as a QB. The Ravens overpaid Flacco for 5 seasons when it was clear that after the SB win that he was done as a starting QB. The Broncos signed Flacco their as starting QB and it was a hot mess.

  52. Wouldn’t the Eagles be better off trading for Nick Foles who has the right attitude to mentor or get along with younger players or any player?

  53. Joe’s right. He’s not being paid to be a mentor. In all actuality, he’s there to replace Jalen hurts! All you racist haters can keep on hating! Watch what develops. Evidently Eagles front office doesn’t like what they’re seeing, that’s why they brought in Joe. Hurts was not a stellar quarterback in college in comparison to others at that position. Let’s keep it real, the Eagles are looking at the future,& they want someone that’s been to the Super Bowl, & actually won. I like Joe being there to turn up the heat! Because it’s about winning, not mentoring.👍🏻🙌🏻✊🏻

  54. Hard to deny Iggles have grossly mismanaged the most critical position on the team. First they destroy Wentz’ confidence then ship him out of town. Does anyone doubt that with good coaching and a little pass blocking that he’ll return to form? They’re stuck now with a set of question marks at the position and are forced to observe division rivals load up on talent. Not a pretty picture in Eastern PA.

  55. Joe… your past teammates have never said anything along the lines of “about what a great teammate” you were.

    it is always about you and will always be about you. Your a back up Qb who has done nothing since winning a super bowl…..good luck in Philly

  56. What Flacco just said is exactly what you’d want a mentor to say. He’ll show Hurts how a QB prepares. The coaches will do the coaching. At this point in their careers, Flacco could give the team the best chance to win, but not necessarily compete for a championship. The goal is to get the guy with the higher ceiling ready for a championship run. Goals don’t always get accomplished the way they’re drawn up, but at least they have lofty goals. Who knows, Hurts might come to camp ready to win it all, and Flacco is just an insurance policy. Kind of like Nick Foles. At this time a few years back, nobody was predicting Foles would become Super Bowl MVP.

  57. Patrick Mahomes is a GREAT QB and would not have been if not for Alex Smith and Andy Ried and Eric Bieniemy. Also he is ridiculously talented and a great leader. Jalen Hurts is very talented. Not as talented as Mahomes but more than most. He will suffer due the sad and pathetic leadership weaknesses of the 2 veteran QB’s he works with in Wentz and Flacco.

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