At times, Joe Flacco demonstrated the quick release and strong arm that showed why the Ravens took the quarterback with the 18th pick in the National Football League Draft. Other times, he overthrew or crossed signals with his intended targets, which showed the rookie still has a lot to learn about running an offense in an unforgiving league.
But this much was clear as the Ravens concluded their passing mini camp last week: Flacco still has a long way to go before he leaps Kyle Boller or Troy Smith in the race to be the team?s starter for its season-opening game againstCincinnati on Sept. 7.
“All these competitions are a little bit different,” Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. “They truly are day-to-day. What we want to do these next few weeks is just let it play out. Then we?ll assess, we?ll turn in our evaluations and talk. [Coach] John [Harbaugh] will have some thoughts. We?ll talk and come up with a plan at training camp, and away we?ll go.”
Flacco wasn?t able to practice at the team?s Owings Mills complex because of an NFL-NCAA rule preventing all rookies from participating in team drills until their college ? and in Flacco?s case, the University of Delaware ? conclude its school year.
So Flacco returned home to Audubon, N.J., and substituted his brother and father for receivers Mark Clayton and Derrick Mason as throwing partners before joining the Ravens on Wednesday.
“I feel a lot better this time around than I did in the mini camp,” Flacco said. “The mini camp they threw a lot at us and it got to a certain point where I was like, ?Whew, what?s going on?? Right now, they?re kind of installing it a little slower for us, and I think I?m really benefiting from it.”
One way Cameron has helped Flacco is by designing plays similar to the ones he ran during his illustrious career at Delaware.
“Really, for two or three months we ran the same plays he ran in college,” Cameron said. “We?ve always done that with young quarterbacks so they really don?t have to perform and learn at the same time as much. So a lot of the stuff he?s doing he should be able to perform at a high level because it?s stuff he?s done in college. And once he gets his feet on the ground, and he starts to learn NFL defenses, starts to grasp our defenses, then we start demanding more of him in terms of what we want to do different than what he did in college.”
Harbaugh said the true evaluation of Flacco began last week, as he is with the team full-time and can focus on negotiating a contract and preparing for training camp in late July.
“I don?t know if you can even judge if you missed a step or not because it?s so early yet,” Harbaugh said. “What are we evaluating from? This is his starting point. He had the five practices before. This is the starting point for him.”
