Marc Bulger had nothing but kind words for his new organization and his new Ravens teammate, Joe Flacco, when speaking with Baltimore reporters for the first time Thursday. Flacco, on the other hand, has his doubts about the team adding the nine-year veteran and two-time Pro Bowler to a loaded quarterback depth chart.
“Hopefully, we just all get along well,” Flacco told The Baltimore Sun over the weekend. “When you have a little bit of tension in the room, it doesn’t lend to playing well. Yeah, he might bring a thing here or there that helps me out. We’ll see.”
Coming from any other player, these comments would be minor message board fodder for a hot minute before quickly burning up into the blogosphere. After all, it’s not like Flacco went all Mel Gibson on the Ravens for bringing in Bulger.
But when it comes to Joespeak, they raise eyebrows (even big, bushy ones).
Flacco {photo by AP} has never spoken out like this in his two-plus seasons in Baltimore. When it comes to creating controversy, the rising field general has been more like Joe Jonas than Joe Jackson. Apparently, Flacco is looking to assert himself more in 2010.
He insisted it wasn’t personal, that his only concern about the signing of Bulger was how it would affect his teammates.
“I don’t want to have any bad words about Marc,” Flacco said. “I’m sure Marc is a great guy. But I had a great relationship with [backups] Troy [Smith] and John [Beck]. Depending on what happens, one of them might not be around and two of them might not be around. We’ll see what happens.”
Enough with the “we’ll see” lines (I counted three in The Sun’s report). Flacco needs to get over it — roster moves are part of the game — and make fast friends with Bulger during training camp. The 33-year-old former Ram can teach him more than “a thing here or there” about what it takes to be a productive player in the NFL.
Bulger’s performance dipped in the past three years as he stood behind a porous offensive line looking for subpar receivers. But in his prime, he was a top-10 passer.
If that’s not enough, Flacco will be two degrees of separation from Kurt Warner, who Bulger said was a “great mentor” in St. Louis. That secondhand wisdom can only help Flacco as he looks to break out — and win a Super Bowl — in his third season.
“We’ve got the talent to go as far as we want to,” Flacco said in the same interview.
Bulger should be included in that group. He’s an upgrade over Smith — and I’ve been a big supporter of Smith — and Beck. After turning down offers to compete for a starting gig elsewhere, Bulger will be regarded as one of the NFL’s top backups. And should Flacco get hurt, Bulger will sure come in handy for a team desperate to win a Lombardi Trophy this season.
That’s the only way Bulger steps on the field, and he’s cool with that. “I understand that I’m coming in and whatever capacity I can help Joe, I’ll do it,” he said. “It’s just about helping us win football games.”
I doubt Flacco will rock the boat during camp (unless a brand-new, badass Joe Cool shows up in Westminster with a Fu Manchu mustache and a pack of Marlboro Reds rolled up in the sleeve of his practice jersey).
Instead, Flacco will back off and say all the right things about Bulger.
Maybe he’ll give Bulger a fair chance and realize it’s nice to have a savvy vet around — even if it means one of his friends isn’t.
From: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment