New Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco will start Sunday’s game against the host Green Bay Packers.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced his decision on Wednesday, just one day after the team acquired Flacco and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the same draft.
“Brings great experience, great leadership. His style fits our style of play, too,” Taylor said. “Excited to get him out there. We’ll start him this week, so he’s going to take all the reps, get ready to go. Already spent a lot of time meeting with us, getting up to speed, so we feel really good about where he’s at.”
Flacco, 40, is getting the nod over Jake Browning, who has lost all three games he has started since replacing injured franchise quarterback Joe Burrow.
Browning, 29, threw three interceptions in Cincinnati’s 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. He has completed 64.5 percent of his throws for 757 yards with six touchdowns and eight picks in four games (three starts) this season for the Bengals (2-3).
Flacco, who is not scheduled to speak to reporters until Friday, will be facing the Packers (2-1-1) for the second time over a four-week stretch. He completed 21 of 36 passes for 142 yards and an interception in Cleveland’s 13-10 victory over Green Bay on Sept. 21.
Taylor said he felt Flacco’s wealth of experience should aid him well in the quick turnaround from the mid-week trade.
“It’s different than a young quarterback coming in, trying to learn a system and understand what a defense is trying to do to challenge you. Not only that, but he’s played Green Bay this year, so he’s already gone through a week of prep,” Taylor said. “Now, the communication and weekly rhythm is maybe different, unique, but he’s already prepared for this opponent. So he gets a chance to refresh himself on that while at the same time learning our system and our terminology and our verbiage and how we operate. Now, he hasn’t played there this year so the crowd noise and all of that is different, but at least he’s got some experience playing against them.”
Flacco completed 93 of 160 passes (58.1 percent) for 815 yards with two touchdowns and eight turnovers (six interceptions, two fumbles) before the Browns opted to hand the keys to rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Flacco spent the 2024 season with the Indianapolis Colts after earning NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors with the Browns in 2023.
A Super Bowl XLVII MVP with Baltimore in the 2012 season, Flacco played his first 11 seasons with the Ravens (2008-18) before moving on to the Denver Broncos (2019), New York Jets (2020-22), Browns (2023, 2025) and Colts (2024).
Flacco ranks 12th in NFL history in pass completions (4,259), 13th in attempts (6,911), 16th in yards (46,512) and tied for 22nd in passing touchdowns (259).
–Field Level Media
