Pregame Quick Hits | Joe Burrow Primed In Baltimore With Joe Flacco No. 2; RB Samaje Perine Active

BALTIMORE _ The first guy you see when you walk into the M&T Bank Stadium press box here is Joe Flacco from his days as the Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

Thursday night, he surfaced as the Bengals’ backup quarterback to Joe Burrow after his intriguing, inspiring six-game run in place of him. Burrow still has more wins this season with the Bengals (two), and one of them was against Flacco in Cleveland in the opener.

So it’s been 75 days since Burrow (toe) got hurt. The same day, Sept. 14, Flacco came in here with the Browns for a reunion. But Flacco made it clear after last Sunday’s loss to New England, when it was clear Burrow was getting this start, he was just fine with missing this one.

“I get how certain feelings can be involved, but in this case, it’s easy to put those aside and go out and just look at the positives of the whole thing and be excited for a teammate trying to work his way back,” Flacco said. “It might sound like crap and I’m lying, and yeah, there’s a tough part about not being out there. There always is. But I feel like I’ve put my head down and worked hard, however long it’s been, and I’ve had a lot of fun with these guys.”

Burrow Memo To NFL

Now is a good time to recall Burrow’s reaction back in May when the NFL schedule came out:

“Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight prime-time year isn’t ideal. Maybe we could get one of those in Cincinnati next year. Please.”

Burrow’s one win here and over Lamar Jackson came in a 1 p.m. special in 2021 when he unfurled 416 yards, 201 of them to a rookie wide receiver named Ja’Marr Chase in his breakout game.