Joe Flacco Not Impressed With Himself

WESTMINSTER, Md. -- Coaches in New York and Detroit are pointing to Ravens training camp and Joe Flacco -- a towering 24-year-old who threw for 2,971 yards last year. "See?" they say. "You can win with a rookie quarterback." Flacco is (along with Atlanta's Matt Ryan) the inspiration for those who would pin their 2009 hopes on a Mark Sanchez or a Matthew Stafford. The former Delaware Blue Hen became an instant sensation last season in Baltimore. And while he's flattered to be held up as such a hopeful example, part of the reason he can be is that he doesn't count himself among the dazzled.

"I don't impress myself, ever," Flacco told FanHouse in an interview following the Ravens' Saturday afternoon practice. "We had a good year because we had a good team. I was happy to be a part of that, but that's the way I look at it."

Looking at the Ravens while they practice, it's obvious that Flacco is much more. On a field crowded with vocal veteran leaders (mainly, granted, on defense), he's in clear command of everything that's happening on offense. Baltimore's receiver situation is a well-chronicled mess. The offensive line is banged-up, and even if it were healthy, it would feature the youngest tackle tandem in the league (23-year-olds Michael Oher and Jared Gaither). This is not the ideal recipe for avoiding a sophomore quarterback slump, but if it's worrying Flacco, you can't tell.

"Flacco, it just seems like he's been there before," Ravens running back Willis McGahee said. "You'd never know it was just his second year. And he was like that last year, right away. Usually when rookies come in, they don't come in like he came in. They hit a shell and they go under it and stay there. He came right in and didn't show any weakness."

Along with his humility and his imposing physical stature (at 6-6, he's taller than everybody on the team but Gaither), that confidence is what helped Flacco assume control so quickly. He got his teammates' attention in his very first game, managing a close second half sensibly against Cincinnati, and even breaking off a 38-yard touchdown run in the 17-10 victory. And throughout his rookie season, he did little to shake the good first impression.

"He's a conservative guy, makes the right decisions and he's not a risk-taker," said cornerback Domonique Foxworth, who's in his first year with the Ravens but played with Ryan in Atlanta last year. "It's just poise more than anything with a quarterback that young. Sometimes they can get swallowed by the situation. The big thing is, you can't ask them to do too much."

That's a key that Flacco himself pointed out. Where Ryan benefited from playing with star running back Michael Turner in Atlanta, Flacco last year enjoyed his role as quarterback of a team that was carried by its defense.

"Success isn't based just solely on the quarterback position," Flacco said. "That position tends to get all the attention, but you're not going to find too many quarterbacks who can win without any help, whether they're rookies or 10-year veterans."

That qualifies as advice for guys like Sanchez and Stafford, should they be entrusted with the keys to their respective offenses in their first pro seasons. Flacco has more.

"As long as you go in there and play with confidence as a quarterback, that's the most important thing," Flacco said. "You learn right away as a rookie quarterback, you're going to have some tough times. You've just got to look for the joy in it and keep remembering what got you here. I think from Day One, I felt like I could play here."

For Flacco, "here" is a nurturing environment. Baltimore is close enough to Delaware that people still show up for training camp in "Wacko for Flacco" T-shirts from his days as a Blue Hen. A native of South Jersey, he's avoided culture shock by staying close to home. And the Ravens, replete with mainstays like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Todd Heap, offer a strong support structure.

"This is a great place for a guy like that to come in," McGahee said. "Just the chance to work in practice against the guys we have on this defense. If you can throw on those guys, you can throw on anybody."

Flacco still has all of that working in his favor, which is why, when asked about the idea of the sophomore slump, he stands tall in the interview's pocket and doesn't flinch.

"Yeah, and after this year, they'll find something to say about the third year and why you can't do it again," Flacco said. "People are always going to continue to look for reasons you're going to fail. All you can do as a football player is keep finding a way to prove them wrong."