Keeping an Eye on Joe

Joe Flacco injured his back during offseason workouts last year, which kept him out of training camp and hampered his performance in the early part of the schedule.

The Ravens cannot afford another setback in 2018.

Nonetheless, the team is limited with how it can monitor Flacco’s offseason work because of restrictions by the league. Ravens coach John Harbaugh is confident Flacco will be fully prepared for the season and hopefully avoid another costly injury.

“Well, the rules are the rules,” Harbaugh said about monitoring Flacco. “Joe is a good training guy. He works hard. There are certain things he is not allowed to do here in the building, and that is a little bit tough. It used to be quarterbacks would come in throughout most of the offseason, and they would work those mechanics with their coach, and they would work film study and they would work on helping build the system with the coaches.

“They just do not allow you to do that now. That is just the way it is. It is for everybody. That is the rule for everybody, so we have to work around those rules a little bit, too.”

Flacco insisted the back injury did not limit him when got back in the lineup last year. However, the numbers say otherwise.

The Ravens struggled over the first half of the season and had the league’s worst passing attack. Over that eight-game stretch, Flacco threw for six touchdowns with eight interceptions and the Ravens went 4-4.

Owner Steve Bisciotti did not discount the impact Flacco’s ailing back had on his performance. A healthy Flacco might have altered the Ravens’ playoff fate. Instead, the team missed the postseason for the third straight year, raising questions about the direction of the organization.

“Joe was obviously producing at sub-standard [levels] with his back injury, and after the first couple of weeks, obviously, we were very encouraged by our defense and thought that could hold us together,” Bisciotti said.

Flacco was much better in the second half of the year despite not having a high-impact wide receiver. Over the final eight games, he threw for 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Ravens also averaged the second most points in the league (29.2) over that stretch. That performance likely saved Marty Marty Mornhinweg’s job as offensive coordinator.

Overall, Flacco threw for 3,141 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His 80.4 quarterback rating was 25th in the league. He turned 33 on Jan. 16 and has also dealt with serious knee injuries.

As a result, Harbaugh did not rule out selecting a quarterback in this year’s NFL owner. Bisciotti, however, does not appear to be on the same page. He contends the Ravens have bigger needs than a new quarterback. Bisciotti is also confident Flacco is primed for a bounce-back year.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry, I guess.” Bisciotti said about drafting a quarterback. “I don’t consider that a big worry. We had Joe throwing a week before the regular season game, and I think that we were conservative.”

While it’s obvious the Ravens need to find Flacco some more playmakers at wide receiver at tight end, the team is already trying to give him more support.

In January, Harbaugh hired James Urban as the new quarterbacks coach. Urban has a solid pedigree and spent the past seven years as the Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receivers coach. He was also the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2009 and 2010, helping both Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick earn trips to the Pro Bowl.

Harbaugh hopes the addition of Urban will help take Flacco to another level with his overall performance.

“The vast majority of the time, Joe’s mechanics and the throws he made – for the situation he faced play to play – were pretty darn good,” Harbaugh said. “He made some throws off of his back foot with guys in his face at times that were great throws, that were very accurate throws.

“Yes, there were times where he missed, for sure. I think a whole training camp, a whole offseason of continuing to work on those things going into a season are going to make it better going into the season. He needs a healthy training camp and a healthy OTAs and all of that to be his best, just like any player does. I am excited about that going into next year.”

Now, Flacco just needs to stay healthy or the Ravens could miss out on the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

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