On Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin raised eyebrows when he said that he felt it didn’t “make sense” that Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry was willing to give a division foe a temporary starting quarterback when Berry traded Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 7.
Later on Monday, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor was asked about Tomlin’s comments as the 2-4 Bengals prepare to host the 4-1 Steelers this coming Thursday night.
Bengals are “happy” Browns were willing to trade Joe Flacco
“I was happy,” Taylor said about the Flacco trade, per Tim Bielik of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “That’s my only comment.”
Taylor and Co. were hoping that Jake Browning would be able to keep Cincinnati in the playoff hunt after starter Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury in Week 2. However, the Bengals became desperate for a fill-in option after Browning played poorly in three straight defeats.
Meanwhile, Flacco had been relegated to backup duties with the Browns after he lost three of four September starts. After spending less than a full week with his new Bengals teammates, the 40-year-old signal-caller passed for 219 yards with two touchdowns in a 27-18 loss at the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Bengals will “continue to press the envelope” with Joe Flacco
According to Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Tomlin said on Monday that he thinks “it is reasonable to expect [Flacco] to be significantly better” in his second game with the Bengals. Taylor also touched upon what he and his staff will put on Flacco’s plate in the few days leading up to the Pittsburgh matchup.
“We’ll continue to press the envelope,” Taylor explained, according to Dave Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We don’t want to overwhelm [Flacco]. We don’t want to get to the point of diminishing returns where now we’ve got too much, and we’re forgetting what this means and that means. I think he’s shown he’s capable of taking on a little bit more.”
Shortly after Taylor offered his comments, ESPN BET had the Bengals listed as 5.5-point home underdogs against the Steelers. If Flacco can build upon what he accomplished in the second half of the Green Bay contest, he could put on a show in his first game at Paycor Stadium as Cincinnati’s QB1.
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