Joe Flacco has been around the league for a long time.
The No. 18 overall pick of the 2008 draft, Flacco has experienced several changes when it comes to the league’s rules around player health and safety — particularly as it relates to protecting quarterbacks.
But according to the 41-year-old Flacco, not all the alterations have been positive for the game.
Speaking to ESPN’s Kevin Clark during Super Bowl week, Flacco noted that while he knows things aren’t going back, he still longs for the old days.
“I don’t think anybody coming into the league these days is quite as battle tested as guys that came into the league 15 years ago,” Flacco said. “I think you can kind of — if you’re a good high school recruit, you can kind of ride your way through college and they’re going to pick you because you have potential. I think there was less of that 15 years ago. I think our generation does benefit from dealing with a little bit of tougher times — just like the generation 20 years before me benefited over us. You know what I mean? And you’re right, I kind of came in as it was transitioning. So I still have that mindset. I don’t think it should be roughing the passer when they land on us. I don’t think being slapped in the head should be roughing the passer. It honestly annoys me because it affects games in a negative way at random times. They can call it or not call it. It needs to get out of the game. They need to go back to it.
“I know CTE is a thing these days and all that, but it’s football. We signed up to play it,” Flacco continued. “And I do think the guys in my generation kind of benefit a little bit from having that mindset — because the guys that are coming in nowadays, they look at me like I’m crazy. ‘What do you mean you want receivers to get laid out over the middle and you want guys to be able to land on you?’ I’m like, yeah, guys, that’s football. There’s certain things that shouldn’t be penalties. And I don’t think they see the side of it where, it really does — these 15-yard penalties in big situations that really shouldn’t be penalties in the game of football, they change these games. And as a fan, I just don’t like it. I want it to be up to us. And getting slapped in the face should not change the game. It really shouldn’t.”
Flacco also took up for defensive players whose job is now arguably harder than it’s ever been to stop offenses from moving the ball.
"[G]uys can’t even play defense as aggressively because they’re getting fined so much money for just normal hits,” Flacco said. “It’s changed the game a lot. And I don’t think we’re going back, so I’m just kind of ranting here. But, man, I don’t like it.
“Listen, we signed up to get concussions. We signed up to get hurt. It is what it is. You might not like that, but that’s what we kind of did when we decided to play this game.”
As Flacco noted, what’s done is done and the game is not going back. But his perspective as a longtime quarterback is informative on how things have changed for the latest generation of signal-callers.
Ravens Clips
The Ravens have found their quarterbacks coach.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Israel Woolfork will have that position on Jesse Minter’s staff in Baltimore. Tee Martin held the same job during the 2025 season, but will not be back with the Ravens.
Woolfork spent the last three seasons as the quarterbacks coach for the Cardinals. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator job in Tampa this offseason before the Bucs hired Zac Robinson and interviewed for the same job with the Bears last year.
Schefter reports that the Cardinals also blocked him from pursuing other lateral moves, but the head coaching change in Arizona opened the door for this move. Woolfork will now be working with Lamar Jackson as the Ravens try to make it back to the playoffs after falling short of the postseason this year.
The Ravens will not retain quarterbacks coach Tee Martin, Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report reports.
Martin spent the past five seasons in Baltimore, the past three as Lamar Jackson’s quarterbacks coach. He joined the team the year after new head coach Jesse Minter left the Ravens.
Minter hired Declan Doyle as his offensive coordinator, and former Bills assistant Ronald Curry has interviewed for Martin’s job.
Martin was the Ravens’ wide receivers coach for his first two seasons before a promotion to the quarterbacks room.
He coached in the college ranks for 15 seasons before joining the Ravens.
The Ravens are set to make another addition to their offensive coaching staff.
Jeff Zrebiec of TheAthletic.com reports that they will hire former Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi as a senior offensive assistant.
Lombardi was fired by the Broncos after their loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. He joined Sean Payton in Denver ahead of the 2023 season and worked with new Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle when Doyle was the Broncos’ tight ends coach in 2023 and 2024.
Lombardi also spent many years on Payton’s staff with the Saints earlier in his career and had stints as the offensive coordinator of the Lions and the Chargers.
One offensive assistant coach is headed to a different AFC North squad.
Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Eddie Faulkner is set to become Baltimore’s running backs coach.
Faulkner, 48, had been with the Steelers as running backs coach since 2019. He also served as the club’s interim offensive coordinator in 2023 after Matt Canada was fired midway through the season.
While the Ravens will be Faulkner’s second stop in the pros as a coach, he’s also spent time as an offensive assistant at the college level with Ball State, Northern Illinois, Pitt, Wisconsin, and NC State.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald doesn’t think he’d be a head coach in a Super Bowl if not for John Harbaugh.
Macdonald spent a decade as an assistant to Harbaugh in Baltimore, and he said that it was Harbaugh who shaped him into the head coach he is today.
“I don’t think it’s possible to overstate his influence on me,” Macdonald said. “I love John Harbaugh. He’s one of my biggest mentors. He was willing to take chances on me when other people weren’t and invested in me throughout my career. He had a vision for me and my career that I probably didn’t have for myself. All the principles that are part of his program, that he’s about as a person, resonated with me. Those are a lot of the foundational principles that we brought to Seattle. He’s also a great friend, got a great family, I can’t say how much I love him.”
Macdonald was 26 years old when Harbaugh hired him, and 12 years later he’s one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Harbaugh had a lot to do with that.
Word late last week was that Travis Switzer was considered the frontrunner to be the Browns’ offensive coordinator and it appears the race is over.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Browns will hire Switzer to fill that role on Todd Monken’s staff.
Switzer and Monken are both making the move from Baltimore to Cleveland. Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Ravens for the last three seasons while Switzer spent nine seasons with the club. He was the run game coordinator for the last two seasons and was a quality control assistant and analyst prior to moving to that position.
Switzer does not have any experience calling plays and Monken will likely reveal how the team will handle that at his introductory press conference this week.
The Ravens confirmed that Declan Doyle will be their offensive coordinator on Monday.
Word that Doyle was the choice for the job came late last week and the Ravens made it official to kick off this week. Doyle held the same job in Chicago during the 2025 season, but will be calling the plays for the Ravens after Ben Johnson handled those duties for the Bears.
“We are thrilled to welcome Declan to the Ravens Flock,” head coach Jesse Minter said in a statement. “An architect of offense, Declan will build around our players through communication, collaboration, relationships and trust. His innovative mindset, collaborative spirit, team-first approach and extensive NFL experience make him an outstanding addition to the Ravens organization.”
The Ravens also announced the addition of offensive line coach/run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford and confirmed that inside linebackers coach Tyler Santucci will remain on the staff after the head coaching change. In addition to those moves, the Ravens have hired pass game coordinator/secondary coach Mike Mickens and game management coordinator/defensive assistant Charlie Gelman.
Anthony Weaver is headed back to Baltimore.
According to multiple reports, Weaver has agreed to become the Ravens’ defensive coordinator.
Weaver, 45, was a Ravens second-round pick in 2002, playing for the franchise through 2005. He then returned to Baltimore as a coach in 2021, serving as the defensive line coach through the 2023 season.
He then served as Dolphins defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He received interviews in this year’s head coaching cycle, but did not land one of the jobs.
New head coach Jesse Minter is set to call Baltimore’s defensive plays in his first year at the helm.
The Browns are hiring Danny Breyer as their pass game coordinator, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
Breyer spent last season as an offensive assistant for the Ravens, so he is following head coach Todd Monken and offensive coordinator Travis Switzer from Baltimore. Breyer was with the Ravens for three seasons, beginning in 2023 as an offensive quality control coach.
He worked closely with the Ravens’ tight ends room the past two seasons.
Breyer previously worked for the Buccaneers as an analytics assistant (2016) before being promoted to defensive assistant coach (2017-18). He was with the Dolphins’ coaching staff during OTAs in 2015.
Before entering the NFL ranks, he was the assistant to the head coach/assistant director of player personnel at Indiana (2013).
