One of the Ravens’ goals this offseason was to add more opportunities for quarterback Joe Flacco to control their offense.
Judging by the amount of times Flacco has had to switch things up in training camp, the fourth-year signal-caller is accepting the challenge.
“I haven’t done a count, but I’ll bet you it’s at least half of the plays where he’s had a choice to make the decision,” said Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh Wednesday.
“He changes the run to a different direction, he changes a run to a pass, changes a pass to a maximum protection and back to a run. He’s done a great job of that.”
Flacco is coming off a career season in which he set personal bests for passing yards (3,622), touchdowns (25)) and quarterback rating (87.9).
But fans and media still criticized the Ravens for what they took as not fully allowing Flacco to hold the offensive reins.
Harbaugh said Flacco had more responsibility than publicly percieved, but it will increase even more in the coming year.
“[The ability to make more decisions has] been built into the offense in the offseason,” said Harbaugh. “I said it last year a lot, there was more stuff in there than you realize. But, there’s more in there this year.
“Cam [Cameron, offensive coordinator] and the offensive coaches have done a great job of building the offense in a way that Joe really has the choice almost every play.”
As training camp began late last month, Flacco said he would relish shouldering more of the offensive burden.
“I want to be in control,” he said. “I want to be in a position to lose football games. I’ve always said that. I want to be put in a position to lose football games; I want it to be on me. If we lose football games, I want you to be able to look directly at me and say, ‘Why did we lose this game?’ and I should have a pretty good answer for you. And I want you to be able to look at me and say, ‘Why did we win this game?’ and I should have a pretty good answer for you.
“In order to do that, you have to have trust in me, and I think we’re there.”
